


Saving You, Saving Me

by Peyton_0727



Series: Crash Into Me [2]
Category: Archie Comics, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Family Drama, Friendship, Love at First Sight, Overcoming Obstacles, Romantic Fluff, Smut, Some Scenes Explicit, bughead is endgame, love and support
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-06 06:09:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 38,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11594544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peyton_0727/pseuds/Peyton_0727
Summary: Sequel to "Love Me Like You Do" - Part 2 of the Crash Into Me SeriesBetty had secretly decided a while ago that she had given up on love. If it found her, great. If not, oh well. That was until she met Jughead Jones, of course.Jughead Jones didn't believe in love at first sight, or love at all for that matter. Until a beautiful blonde accidentally bumps into him in Central Park.The stars align when two young souls collide but when darkness from their pasts comes back to haunt them both - Will their love be able to survive or will it tear them apart?*Written from the perspective of both Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones.





	1. Night Terror

**"The broken will always be able to love harder than most. Once you have been in the dark, you're going to appreciate everything that shines."** _-Anonymous_

 

* * *

Jughead

Jughead turned on the shower and stepped under the hot stream of water. Jughead lifted his face up to the shower head, squinting his eyes and running his finger through his hair. After working all day at the construction site, his body was tired and he was happy to wash off the caked dirt that had been on his face all day.

Tomorrow was Thanksgiving. Normally Jughead hated holidays but usually Thanksgiving meant a lot of food and this year Jughead had a lot to be thankful for. He smiled, his thoughts instantly turning to Betty. They had resolved their issues back in July and they had been together ever since. Jughead knew deep down that Betty was getting restless, they were still doing the long distance relationship thing and although they had discussed Jughead moving to New York, he still hadn’t made any concrete plans yet. He admired how her patience with him was unwavering.

They were usually both busy all day at work, sometimes they would exchange a text or two around lunch time and they always talked on the phone before they fell asleep. They made a constant effort to see each other at least twice a month and they traded off pretty well- one weekend Jughead would go to New York and the other Betty would come up to him in Riverdale. One time, Jughead brought Archie with him. Archie had never seen the city and Jughead felt a small amount of guilt for leaving his best friend alone on the weekends. Much to his surprise, Archie and Betty’s roommate Veronica hit it off pretty well. It was nice that the four of them could spend time together comfortably.

Jughead really wanted Betty to come stay with him for Thanksgiving since it was a long weekend, but Betty had promised her Dad that she would come home for the holiday. Betty’s parent’s house was only an hour from Riverdale and she promised to come visit on her way back to the city. Jughead shivered, despite the almost scalding water. He was with Betty last weekend when she got the call from her Dad. Betty and Veronica had dragged Jughead to this new coffee house they wanted to try. Although Jughead loved coffee he really hated bustling coffee spots. Too many people. But it was surprisingly quiet and the coffee had been really good. The three of them sat in comfy chairs in a corner of the café. Veronica was going on about the current charity group she was working for. It was a charity that specialized in helping troubled youth. Jughead had been genuinely curious about it since he couldn’t wrap his mind around Veronica finding so much passion for a cause she couldn’t possibly know anything about. Betty had laughed at something Jughead had said and he looked at her and smiled. Then her phone wrung and her face changed. It was almost alarming. Veronica had noticed it too. She immediately put her hand on Betty’s leg.

“B, who is it?” Veronica asked quietly.

“My Dad.” Betty said.

Jughead couldn’t help to notice over the last few months how good Veronica was with Betty. Not in a motherly way but in a protective way. The way that only comes from a strong sense of loyalty you feel for someone you love. It was clear to Jughead that Veronica had more insight into the signs that showed Betty was under stress or felt anxiety. It used to annoy Jughead because he wanted to be that person for Betty but Veronica was always good at filling him in when they were alone. Despite the two of them being polar opposites, Jughead genuinely liked Veronica.

Before Jughead had a chance to say anything Betty answered the phone and got up to walk out of the coffee shop to take the phone call. Jughead got up to go follow her.

“Don’t.” Veronica said gently. She looked Jughead directly in the eye and shook her head. “She’ll tell us when she’s ready.”

Jughead sat back down and slouched in his chair. He trusted Veronica. Plus they never talked about Betty’s parents, not since Betty told Jughead about what happened with her sister Polly. Maybe he was over reacting. He tapped his fingers on the arm chair anxiously. He could see Betty out the coffee shop window. She looked fine, right? Jughead saw Betty sigh heavily, she was biting the side of her right thumb, nodding. That was a tell-tale sign Betty was feeling anxious. Jughead pulled his eyes away, he didn’t like to analyze Betty like this. Betty had made such a big deal out how people treat those with self-harm scars like they’re crazy. He didn’t want Betty to feel like he thought she was crazy. In fact, Jughead thought Betty was incredibly brave. She always embraced her feelings no matter how much they took out of her while he just shoved his feelings down and ignored them. But he loved her and therefore he felt the overwhelming need to protect her and that was a feeling he could not ignore.

A few minutes later, Betty came back in. Veronica tried to look completely normal, scrolling through her Instagram account but he could tell she too was worried.

“Hey B, what your Dad have to say?” Veronica asked.

“Nothing, really he just asked me to come home for Thanksgiving.” Betty said, nonchalantly.

If Veronica was shocked by this news or felt anything about it for that matter, she didn’t give anything away. Jughead followed Veronica’s lead on this one.

“Are you going to go?” Jughead asked.

“Yeah, of course. They’re my parents.” Betty said.

That was when out of the corner of his eye he saw Veronica flinch. It was subtle and Betty definitely had not noticed but he sure had. But that was the last they all had discussed it.

That was the first night Jughead had spent the night with Betty when she had a night terror.


	2. There's My Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I know I usually rotate Jughead and Betty's narratives but this second chapter is written from Jughead's perspective. Betty will be up next in Chapter 3.

 

**"When the rain is blowing in your face**  
**And the whole world is on your case**  
**I could offer you a warm embrace**  
**To make you feel my love**

**When the evening shadows and the stars appear**  
**And there is no one there to dry your tears**  
**Oh, I hold you for a million years**  
**To make you feel my love."** _-Adele, "Make You Feel My Love"_

 

* * *

Jughead

Jughead heard a blood curdling scream in his sleep. His eyes snapped open, heart pounding in his chest, he could barely catch his breath. It was pitch black in Betty’s room so he couldn’t really see anything. Did he imagine it? Then he heard it again and realized it was coming from Betty. Jughead immediately jumped up and started shaking Betty by the shoulders. She was screaming and he couldn’t wake her up. Out of nowhere Veronica burst into the room and pulled Jughead off Betty.

“Jughead, no stop!” Veronica said.

He looked at Veronica with wild eyes, “What are you talking about? I need to wake her up!”

“Jughead, if she doesn’t wake up right away it means she is having a night terror. You’re not supposed to wake people up from that! It can cause more damage.”

Betty screamed again and thrashed around on the bed. Jughead ran his hands through his hair, he could feel tears streaming down his face. Veronica grabbed his hand and tugged him out of the room, closing the door behind them.

“It’ll be over soon, I promise.” Veronica said. “She usually doesn’t remember them.”

Jughead looked at Veronica wide eyed, “How often does this happen?” he whispered.

Veronica looked away from him and headed out into the kitchen.

“Veronica!” He called after her.

“Not that often. It happened a lot when her sister died and after you…” Veronica said, her voice faltering.

The air caught in Jughead’s throat. He realized what she was about to say.

“After I left her?” Jughead managed to choke out. The guilt hit him like a concrete cinder block to the chest. He sunk down into a chair at the kitchen table.

“Jughead this isn’t your fault. It’s a side effect of her PTSD. I’m sure the phone call from her Dad today was a trigger.” Veronica said.

He nodded wordlessly. Veronica handed him a glass of iced water, he took a sip.

“How can you handle this so well?” Jughead said, staring at her.

Veronica sighed and sat down at the other chair at the table, she put her head in her hands.

“I wouldn’t say I handle it. I’m just used to it. Normally I can wake her up or I sleep with her in her bed. That usually helps. But the night terrors are the worst. The first time was when we were in college, it was the first night back from spring break. I knew Betty had gone to see her parents and that it hadn’t gone well. It scared me so much and when she wouldn’t wake up I just left the room and sat out in the hall and cried. I’m surprised no one called campus police.” Veronica took a deep breath.

“Why doesn’t she tell me about any of this?” Jughead said.

Veronica’s eye softened. “Jughead, you have to understand Betty really values her independence when it comes to this. She has really overcome a lot since we were in college and this doesn’t happen often, I promise. Betty has let you in on a lot but I think she’s just so afraid that you are going to look at her differently if she lets you all the way in.”

Jughead suddenly felt defensive, “Did she tell you that?”

“No.” Veronica rubbed her eyes. “Jughead Betty has never had a boyfriend. Did you know that? She has no other close friends besides me, why do you think that is?”

Jughead paused, he knew, well he assumed that Betty had had a boyfriend or two before him. He knew she at least hooked up with a guy or two since she wasn’t a virgin when they met. Jughead realized he couldn’t answer Veronica’s question.

Veronica reached across the table and squeezed Jughead’s hand.

“Jughead, Betty LOVES you. Try not to take this personally, I know how difficult this is. You are there for her more than you realize and when she needs you, when she really needs you- she will let her guard down and lean on you.”

Jughead nodded, “Thanks Veronica.”

They sat in silence for a few moments longer.

“Ok, I am going back to bed. Do you mind if I check in on Betty?” Veronica asked.

He was shocked by her question, “Of course.”

Jughead was jolted out of his memory by Archie banging on the door.

“Jughead come on! You’ve been in there for like 20 minutes. You’re going to use all the hot water.”

Jughead groaned and shut the water off. He wrapped a towel around his waist and opened the door.

“Dude, I know all you think about is Betty but some of us like a hot shower.” Archie said, smirking. Jughead laughed and hit him in the arm.

“Shut up, man.” Jughead said.

“Come on, I need to shower and then we need to help my Dad with some Thanksgiving stuff.”

“Yeah Arch, no problem.”

Jughead went back to his room and checked his phone to see if he had any messages from Betty. He tried not to feel too disappointed when there was nothing. Despite his protesting, they had discussed it and Betty was going to go see her parents for Thanksgiving. He was tempted to text Veronica to see what time she left. He was only an hour away, Jughead could meet her there. Archie and Fred would understand. As if she could read his mind, a message from Veronica pinged to his phone.

**B just left, it should take her a few hours to get to her parents. DO NOT go over there Jughead Jones.**

Jughead rolled his eyes at the way Veronica already knew him.

**You got it, Ronnie. Enjoy your Thanksgiving.**

He got dressed and headed downstairs.

Later that night, when he was playing video games with Archie he got a text from Betty. She arrived safely, she was currently unpacking and that she missed him. He smiled.

**I love you. Call me if you need anything!**

Jughead did not have a good feeling about Betty visiting her parents, but he wanted to give her the space he knew she needed.

The next day went pretty smoothly. Jughead woke up to the smell of a turkey in the oven. He drank coffee with Fred and Archie and after Archie begged him for a straight 20 minutes they went outside and threw the football around. He tried not to worry too much when he hadn’t heard from Betty. Later, she had sent him a few pictures. They were of Betty and some of her high school friends and Betty holding what looked like a fresh baked pie. He was kind of relieved, Betty looked like she was having a good time.

In the afternoon, Jughead ate dinner with Fred and Archie and they sat around the kitchen island. They laughed at old memories and Fred told a few stories about F.P. that made Jughead laugh. Jughead was sad when Betty texted that she couldn’t call him that evening. But she promised that she would still be there on Saturday. Jughead sighed, she seemed fine. He should be happy for her, he should be happy that things were going so well. But he couldn’t ignore the feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was almost midnight when he fell asleep.

The next time Jughead opened his eyes his phone was ringing. He groaned and rolled over to look at the alarm clock. It was 3a.m. Why was his phone ringing? He felt around in the dark to find it. Betty’s name was flashing on his screen, he immediately sat up and answered it.

“Betty?” Jughead said.

“Jughead…” she whispered. He could tell she was crying and his heart sank.

“Betty? It’s ok I’m here, baby. What is it?”

“I just couldn’t do it anymore.” She sobbed. “I couldn’t sit there and pretend everything was ok.”

Jughead’s heart started to race, he never heard Betty like this before. “Betty where are you? Stay where you are. I’m coming to get you.”

“No Jughead I-“ she started to say, but Jughead cut her off.

“No Betty this isn’t up for discussion. I am coming to get you. Where are you?” Jughead said firmly. He was fumbling around his room, pulling on his pants and trying to find a sweatshirt.

“I’m outside on the front porch.” Betty whispered.

Jughead froze, “I’ll be right down.”

Jughead ran downstairs, almost jumping down the entire staircase but he didn’t want to wake Archie and Fred. He yanked open the front door and sure enough there was Betty. He stood in the doorway, his eyes sweeping over his girlfriend. Betty looked… like a mess. Betty’s hair was not in a pristine pony tail like it usually was, her hair was tied back but it was messy. Like she had been pulling on it. Her eyes looked swollen and her nose was red and puffy. Betty had definitely been crying. Then he noticed a bruise on Betty’s cheek.

“Betty? Betty what happened?” He whispered.

Betty looked at him and started to cry again, she just stood there shaking her head. He went to her and folded her into his arms. She felt so fragile, like the smallest amount of pressure could break her.

“Shh, it’s ok. It’s ok, I’ve got you. You’re safe now.” He held her tight, running his thumb over the back of her neck.

Betty nodded, pressing her face into his shoulder, digging her fingers into his back. Like she was holding on for dear life.

“I’m sorry for showing up like this.” She breathed. “I just felt like I was out of control. I used all my coping strategies and I just couldn’t bring myself to deescalate. I wanted to see you, I had to see you.”

Jughead suddenly felt relief wash over him. Veronica’s words retuning to him.

_You are there for her more than you realize and when she needs you, when she really needs you- she will let her guard down and lean on you._

“Betty it’s ok. I’m so happy you’re here.” Jughead said. Jughead pulled away from her so he could look at her face. He put his hands on either side of Betty’s face. She was still gripping on to his sweater. She wouldn’t look him in the eye.

His eyes softened, “Betty look at me.” Betty’s eyes met his, her radiant green eyes still caught him off guard. Tears were still flowing out of them.

“I missed you.” He kissed her on the forehead. Betty smiled and took a deep breath. She looked like she was starting to calm a little.

“There’s my girl.” he whispered. “Let’s get you inside.” 

Betty stopped and looked up at him, "Did you call me 'baby' earlier?" 

Jughead smirked, "It seemed appropriate at the time. I was testing it out." 

He gently put an arm around Betty and guided her into the house, closing the door behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! 
> 
> I wasn't 100% sure if I wanted to continue the "Love Me Like You Do" story line after I finished it. But this scene came to me today and I could not wait to get it down and publish it here. I hope you enjoy it! More to come tomorrow. As always please let me know your thoughts! 
> 
> P & B,
> 
> -Peyton 
> 
> P.S. I don't think I will be finishing the "An Alternate Ending" story. If anyone is disappointed by this let me know!


	3. Safe Harbor in a Storm

**"He just doesn't know how he affects me-**

**How he calms the chaos in my head.**

**He stills the typhoon of that thoughts that steal my sanity.**

**When I am in his arms, I feel as though we are in the eye of my turbulent life;**

**Safe together while the storm rages on around us".** _-Anonymous_

* * *

 

 

Betty

Jughead had led Betty upstairs and turned the shower on for her. She was biting her bottom lip to the point where it was becoming raw. Jughead left the bathroom and then returned with fresh towels.

“You’ll feel better after a shower.” Jughead said.

“Jughead it’s like 4 in the morning.” Betty said rolling her eyes.

Jughead raised an eyebrow at her.

“Fine.” She said.

Jughead lifted her sweater off of her and continued to undress her. There was nothing sexual about it, he was being so gentle with her. He held out his hand and helped her step in the shower. Jughead paused when he saw the bruise on her right wrist, he face twisting in pain but he didn’t say anything.

“I’m going to go get you some fresh clothes.” Jughead said.

Betty nodded and pulled the shower curtain closed. She tilted her head back and felt the warm water over her scalp. She opened one of the shampoos and smelled it. Betty smiled, realizing that it was Jughead’s.

Betty washed her hair and then turned the water off. Jughead was right she did feel better. Betty looked at herself in the mirror and scowled at her reflection. Betty was definitely a mess. Her eyes were red and puffy and her bottom lip was swollen from her constantly biting on it.

There was soft tap on the door. Jughead came in and handed Betty some of his clothes- sweat pants and a t-shirt.

“Thanks, Jug.” Betty said.

“I’ll be in my room, whenever you’re finished.” Jughead said

Betty nodded. She took a deep breath and exhaled forcefully.

Betty took stock of herself, despite feeling like she had lost control she hadn’t hurt herself and that was something she felt proud of. Even a year ago, Betty wasn’t entirely sure she would’ve been so strong. When she felt like she was unraveling earlier this evening all she could think about was Jughead. The way she felt safe in his arms or the comforting feeling she got when he kissed the side of her forehead.

She got dressed quickly looking forward to cuddling with Jughead. When she went into his room, only his bed side lamp was on. Jughead was already under the covers. Betty carefully climbed in, Jughead only had a twin sized bed. She turned off the light and Jughead wrapped her up in his arms and kissed on the side of her forehead. Betty sighed peacefully.

“I feel so safe when I’m with you.” Betty whispered.

“Me too.” Jughead whispered back squeezing her a little. Soon they were both asleep.

When Betty opened her eyes, the sun was streaming through Jughead’s window. Jughead was sleeping soundly next to her. One arm across her stomach and his head tucked in the crook of her neck. Betty always woke up before Jughead and most morning’s she would just lay there and watch him sleep. She would study his features and day dream about their future. Six months ago Betty never even thought about love or a future with a man, getting married or having kids. Now Jughead was laying here and it was all she could think about. Jughead was definitely driving her crazy with not making any plans yet to move to New York but Betty knew he just needed more time. Betty had thought about offering to move to Riverdale. There was a small newspaper in the town and the city was nowhere to start a family. But they were still so young and she wanted to enjoy that. If Betty moved here she would be closer to her parents as well.

Betty winced remembering the painful memory, remembering why she was waking up next to Jughead in the first place.

Visiting her parents was, to her surprise, going very well. At least at the beginning. Betty had gotten late Wednesday night but her Dad had waited up for her. Betty was so happy to see her Dad she realized how much she missed spending time with him. Betty felt guilty about letting her mom come between them. Her Dad made her some food and Betty caught him up on her life and she even told him about Jughead. Her Dad seemed so happy that she had found someone.

On Thanksgiving Day, Betty’s mother woke her up by going into her room and throwing open her curtains.

“Rise and shine, Elizabeth!” Alice Cooper said.

Betty looked at her mother wearily. They hadn’t spoken for a long time now and her mother was acting way too… perky. It set her teeth on edge.

Betty met some of her old high school friends Trev and Ethel. It felt so good to catch up with them and she even sent a picture to Jughead. When she got home, her mother asked for Betty’s help in the kitchen. Thanksgiving used to be Betty’s favorite holiday. Her mother made small talk while they worked. Betty knew she was trying but she couldn’t help but feel tense.

Thanksgiving dinner was quiet but good. Betty was toying with the idea of leaving tomorrow to go see Jughead instead of Saturday. She knew her parents would disapprove but her anxiety from being home was on the rise. Betty sat on her hands to resist the urge to fidget and pick at herself. Betty retired early, she wanted to call Jughead but she couldn’t risk her mother listening in. Betty wasn’t ready to tell her Mom about Jughead, although she wasn’t entirely sure whether or not her Dad would. She texted Jughead that she would call him soon and before she could give it a second thought, Betty fell asleep.

Betty opened her eyes around midnight, she could hear voices. She could here children laughing. Betty immediately sat up. She pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Betty felt pain under her skin so she definitely was awake. Betty put her bathrobe on and quietly opened her door. The glow of the TV lit up the staircase and Betty crept downstairs.

Betty could see the TV, on the screen there was footage playing of her when she was little. She must’ve been only 5 years old. Polly was on the screen too, they were playing. Her mother was watching the video, a glass of bourbon next to her. Betty scrunched her nose, she could smell the alcohol. Was her mom drunk? Maybe she was asleep? Betty walked over and put her hand on Mom’s shoulder.

“Mom?” Betty whispered.

Alice’s eyes shot up, it was clear she had been crying.

“Polly?”

“No Mom, it’s Betty.”

“Polly where have you been?!” Alice started to yell, her hand gripping Betty’s wrist.

“Ouch Mom that hurts! It’s me Betty! I’m not Polly!”

“You were sneaking out again weren’t you!” Alice twisted Betty’s wrist, a sharp pain shot up her arm.

“Mom let go of me! That hurts!” Betty said.

Alice struck Betty on the face.

“Mom!” Betty shoved Alice away from her.

Suddenly the lights came on and Hal Cooper ran into the living room.

“Alice! That’s Betty NOT Polly.” Hal said

Alice seemed to snap out of it a little bit. She looked wildly around the room. Tears streaming down her face.

“Betty?” Alice whispered. Her face twisted in pain.

Betty held her face panting. She looked at her father, “Dad what is wrong with her?”

Hal grimaced, “Your mother is sick Betty. Her grief for your sister consumes her sometimes.”

Betty watched as Hal walked over to Alice and put his arm around her shoulders. Cooing her softly as he coaxed Alice back to the chair she had been sitting in. Betty felt a panic set in and her heart continued to pound as she ran up to her bedroom. Betty locked her bedroom door. She walked over to her bed and began to cry. Betty couldn’t wrap her mind around what was going on. Clearly her mom needed help and her Dad just acted like everything was fine. Betty felt the overwhelming darkness bloom in her chest.

Betty closed her eyes, _no, no, no. Come on Betty keep it together._ Betty pulled her ponytail out quickly and with force. The pain of her hair slightly ripping felt good. Betty ran her fingers through her hair. She was panicking. Betty just sat on the edge of her bed, digging her finger into the side of the mattress, trying to calm down. But she couldn’t stop crying. She couldn’t tell how much time had passed. Finally she looked at the clock and it was 2a.m. Betty didn’t trust herself to be alone and all of the sudden like a tidal wave, she missed Jughead. Betty jumped up and grabbed her phone and her keys and ran out the door. She didn’t even pause to see if her parents were still in the front room. When Jughead opened the front door of his house- all Betty could feel was… relief. It made her tears start all over again.

Suddenly Jughead’s bedroom door opened and Archie walked in. He looked from Jughead to Betty.

Betty’s hand flew up to her mouth signaling for Archie to stay quiet. Carefully she got out of bed and motioned Archie to go out in the hall.

“Betty. I’m shocked to see you. We weren’t expecting you until Saturday.”

“I know it was kind of a last minute decision. I got in late last night.”

Archie looked her over, his eyes pausing on the bruise on her cheek. Betty looked down at the floor.

“Is everything ok Betty? Did someone do that to you?”

Betty was surprised by Archie’s protective tone.

“It’s a long story but yes I’m fine.” Betty couldn’t tell Archie before she even had a chance to tell Jughead.

Archie nodded. “Well I was just looking for my running shorts, I thought maybe they got mixed up with Jug’s laundry.”

“Oh, do you want me to look for them?” Betty asked.

“No, no that’s ok. I’ll just find something else to wear. You go back to bed.”

Betty nodded and headed back into Jughead’s room. She was happy to see Jughead hadn’t moved at all. She climbed back into bed, folding herself back into Jughead’s embrace. She quickly feel asleep listening to Jughead’s steady breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't really put my finger on why I have written Alice Cooper to be crazy with grief. I have this image in my head from when Alice takes the make-up remover wipe and forcefully wipes the red lipstick off Betty's face. 
> 
> Just like Part 1, this love story is going to get dark before it gets better. But I think it's important to realize that Betty didn't want to be alone with her darkness and that her first instinct was to run to Jughead for help. Their relationship is progressing! 
> 
> I hope you are enjoying it so far!
> 
> P & B, 
> 
> -Peyton


	4. Sweet Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Explicit scene in this chapter.

**"So, don't ever think I need more**  
**I've got the one to live for**  
**No one else will do, and I'm telling you**  
**Just put your heart in my hands**  
**Promise it won't get broken**  
**We'll never forget this moment**  
**Yeah, we'll stay brand-new 'cause I'll love you**  
**Over and over again**  
**Over and over again"** _-Nathan Sykes, "Over and Over Again"_

 

* * *

Jughead

Jughead woke up and stretched. He suddenly remembered that Betty was there in the bed beside him. Jughead sighed. What a night.

Slowly he sat up on his elbows. Betty always got up before him so he never really got the chance to watch her sleep. She was curled up on her left side facing the door. He studied Betty’s gentle features. Jughead could see the bruise on her cheek and tensed. Anger exploding in his chest. Jughead was going to pummel whoever hurt Betty. Jughead assumed something happened with her parents. He was so angry with himself. Jughead should have just followed his instincts. He shouldn’t have given her space or listened to Veronica. He should have gone to Betty’s parent’s house and been there to support her.

Carefully Jughead reached over Betty and grabbed his phone from the bedside table. He needed to text Veronica, he knew she would do the same thing for him.

**Hey- Betty is here with me. She showed up early this morning… it’s not good. I’ll have her call you when she wakes up.**

Jughead grabbed his worn copy of Slaughter House Five off the window sill and propped his pillow behind his head and began to read.

Betty woke up about an hour later. Betty winced before she opened her eyes. Jughead held his breath, trying to look nonchalant when she looked over at him.

“Hey” Betty said sleepily. “What time is it?”

Jughead checked his phone, “Almost 11am”

Betty yawned and rubbed her face, flinching when she touched her bruise. Jughead felt anxiety and worry unwind in his chest. Jughead didn’t ask Betty what happened last night because he didn’t want to push it but enough was enough.

“Betty what happened last night?” Jughead whispered.

Betty froze and looked up at him. She sighed and struggled to sit up, clearly her wrist was bothering her. Jughead’s eyebrows shot up in surprise when Betty lifted his arm and tucked herself into his side. He kissed her forehead and pulled her close.

“Betty please tell me. I know it’s bad, I know it’s hard to talk about but I need you to tell me. I want to share this burden with you. I want to protect you.” Jughead knew he was rambling but he didn’t know what else to do.

“I know.” Betty whispered. She looked up at him and kissed him. Jughead felt the room spin, even after all these months- her kiss still affected him so deeply.

Betty took a deep breath and began her story about last night. Jughead held Betty in his arms the whole time, softly rubbing her arm with his thumb. When she got to the part of her Mom mistaking Betty for her dead sister Jughead froze. Then when she told him about her Mom twisting her wrist and hitting her he screwed his eyes shut. Jughead knew Betty’s Mom had hit her before. That was the single handed moment that brought Betty and F.P. together. It was also the moment that pushed Betty off the deep end that eventually led to her self-harm. Anger and a deep sadness for the girl he loved overwhelmed him.

By the end Betty was crying again. Jughead felt his heart start to break.

“Betty, please don’t cry.” He pleaded. Jughead literally could not watch Betty be in so much emotional pain.

“Jug you don’t get it. Everything is just so messed up. My mom has gone off the deep end and my Dad is walking around like its normal.”

“Betty you are so much stronger than they are. I know it seems hard right now but it will be ok. You will be ok.”

“I don’t know if it will.” Betty said, tears spring anew pouring down her face.

Jughead sat up and held Betty’s face in her hands. She couldn’t look him in the eye.

“Betty why do you think that? What aren’t you telling me?” He said gently.

Betty looked at him this time, “I-, I just-… I just don’t know how you could love someone as broken as I am.” She sobbed.

Jughead’s face softened, he swallowed back his own tears. The conversation with Veronica coming back to him one more time. This was it, this was Betty’s fear. Raw and in the flesh. Betty’s fear was that once Jughead knew everything, when Betty finally let him in- that he wouldn’t want to be with her anymore.

“Betty I’m not going anywhere.” Jughead whispered. “I’m broken too remember?”

Betty shook her head, “But what if it’s always like this? Even if things are ok I feel like this darkness will always follow me around. It’s like as soon as I get a grip on my life something happens and I just get pulled back in.”

“Betty you don’t think I feel the same way? I mean come on, my Dad is in jail and my Mom abandoned me. I haven’t seen my sister is years and even after all this time I feel like an outsider in this house. Like when I’m with Fred and Archie, I’m just a visitor… on the outside looking in.” His voice trailed off at the end, Jughead had never said any of this out loud.

“You’ve never told me any of this before…” Betty said quietly.

Jughead sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “I’m not like you Betty. I can’t embrace everything that I feel. I can barely breathe sometimes if I let even half of it in.”  He paused looking at her. Jughead felt so vunerable, he could barely stand it. But he had to tell her. He had to tell Betty the truth.

“I have a darkness too.” He finally said. It was barely a whisper.

Betty wiped a stray tear that was falling off Jughead’s cheek. He leaned into her touch.

“You know, I’ve spent all this time fighting for my independence” Betty said, “Fighting for myself and being strong but the truth is…” She stopped.

Jughead turned to look at her. Betty was looking into his eyes like she was staring at something rare. Like witnessing the Aurora Borealis or seeing a shooting star for the very first time.

“What?” Jughead said, feeling anxious. His heart started to race.

“The truth is,” Betty began to say, “I never knew I wanted to _need_ someone until the day I met you Jughead Jones.”

Jughead breathed in sharply. It all made sense to him now, all that stuff that has been written in books, in poetry and in the stars about love. When you cut yourself open and show everything to the person you love and they accept you for exactly who you are- nothing more, nothing less, it’s unconditional. Suddenly he realized that his idea of “home” was no longer a place in his mind, it was a person. Home was Betty.

“I need you too.” Jughead said, pressing his forehead to hers.

Then Jughead kissed Betty. He kissed her hard, like it might bruise Betty’s sweet delicate lips. She kissed him back with the same desperation. Jughead wanted to consume Betty, swallow her whole and heal her while at the same time, healing himself. Betty got up and threw her leg over Jughead’s lap, barely breaking contact. Jughead pulled the hem of her t-shirt and quickly dragged it over her head. Jughead’s mouth went dry, Betty wasn’t wearing a bra. Betty grabbed his face pulling his mouth to hers. Jughead put his hands on Betty’s breasts, gently squeezing them. Betty moaned into his mouth. He pulled away, kissing her jawline, working his way down her neck, softly biting Betty’s shoulder. Betty pulled off his shirt and then went back to kissing him, digging her fingers into his hair and pulling. Jughead wrapped his arms around her back pulling Betty close. Betty was grinding her hips into Jughead’s erection. It was mind numbing. He groaned.

Jughead lifted Betty up and gently laid her on her back, Betty’s legs locked tightly around his waist. Her beautiful blonde hair splayed around her like a halo. Jughead stopped for a moment and stared into Betty’s green eyes. Betty lifted her hands and gently stroked his face with her fingertips.

“I love you so much.” Jughead whispered.

Betty smiled her most radiant smile, the one he only saw when she was truly happy.

“I love you too.”

They started to kiss again. Jughead worked his way down Betty’s body. Running his tongue down her neck to her collarbone, to her chest. Betty shivered. He put his mouth over one of her breasts and held the other with his hand. Betty’s body bucked forward and she moaned softly. Without a second thought, Jughead grabbed Betty’s pajama bottoms and tugged them off. No underwear.

“You are literally trying to kill me.” He choked out.

Betty bit her bottom lip, trying to hide her mischievous smile. She sat up pulling on the waistline of his boxers. Jughead got up off the bed and kicked off his bottoms. Quickly he reached over and locked his bedroom door. He didn’t think Fred or Archie were home but he didn’t want to risk it.

Jughead walked back over to the bed. He eyes swept over Betty’s body.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” Jughead breathed.

Betty reached up and pulled on his arms, pulling him on top of her. Betty spread her legs, dragging her knees up. Jughead ran the tip of his erection over Betty’s pulsing clitoris. She shuddered. He loved this, he loved watching her unravel underneath him like a spool of thread. Slowly Jughead entered Betty. Betty’s eyebrows knitted together as her mouth formed a perfect “O” shape. He started at a slow leisurely pace. Burying his face into Betty’s neck, her soft moans in his ear, their fingers tightly laced together.

“Oh god, Jughead, faster.” Betty breathed.

Jughead groaned at her request, putting his weight on his hands. Betty grabbed his face kissing him violently as he continued to push into her faster and harder, onward and upward. Finally Betty threw her arms around his neck, biting his shoulder to hide her moans, detonating around him. Jughead thrusted into Betty one more time and he found his release, his own orgasm ripping through him.

Jughead collapsed on top of Betty. She was wrapped around him like a vine. They were breathing hard, trying to catch their breath, both a little sweaty.

“Oh my god.” Betty said laughing, running her hand through her hair. “I didn’t know sex could feel like that. Did you?”

He laughed, rolling off of her. “Apparently not.”

Betty rolled on to her side facing him. Jughead placed an arm around her, drawing small circles on her lower back.

“Betty?” He said, his face going serious.

Betty looked up at him, “What?”

“Promise me, that you won’t go back to your parent’s house alone until things calm down. I’m going with you next time. We're in this together now, ok?” Jughead said, weary of her reaction.

Betty reached up and ran her fingers through Jughead’s hair. “Okay.”

He sighed, smiling with relief.

Jughead’s phone went off, he reached for it. It was Archie.

“Archie wants to know if we want him and Fred for lunch at Pop’s. Are you hungry?”

“Yeah, I’m starving.” Betty said.

“Ok I’ll let him know we’ll meet them there. I need to shower.” He got up off the bed, heading for the door.

“Can I join you?” Betty said, biting her lip.

Jughead spun around and raised his eyebrow, “Again, Cooper?”

Betty nodded and jumped out of bed and slid her arms around his neck. She kissed him gently. “I love you, you know that?”

Jughead smiled, he knew.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! 
> 
> I don't know if any of you have heard "Over and Over Again" by Nathan Sykes but it is such a Bughead song it's insane! It's also what inspired this chapter. I am so proud of this chapter you guys. It's such a raw and honest moment between these two, especially when Jughead admits he has a darkness too <3 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! More to come soon :)
> 
> P & B, 
> 
> -Peyton


	5. A Chilly Encounter

**"What day is it? And in what month?**   
**This clock never seemed so alive**   
**I can't keep up and I can't back down**   
**I've been losing so much time**   
  
**'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do, nothing to lose**   
**And it's you and me and all of the people**   
**And I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off of you"** _Lifehouse, "You and Me"_

* * *

 

 

Betty

Betty nudged her remaining fries towards Jughead. That was the upside to having a boyfriend who loved to eat she guessed, he would always finish your food. Lunch had been great, Betty really liked spending time with Archie and Fred. Plus Fred never missed a moment to tell an embarrassing story about Jughead and Archie from when they were kids. Betty would always try to hide her amusement at first for Jughead’s sake, but she always ended up laughing until her sides hurt.

When Pop brought the check over, Betty got her wallet out.

Fred cleared his throat, “Absolutely not Betty.”

Betty paused and looked up at Fred, “Come on Fred, you never let me pay for anything when I visit.”

“Put your money away, young lady.” Fred said laughing.

“Fine!” Betty said, she didn’t want to be rude. “But when you come down to the city I’m not letting you pay for a thing.”

Fred laughed again and nodded, “Fine.”

Betty looked over at Jughead who was smiling at her. She wondered if things would always be this way. The four of them spending time together felt like… family. It was comfortable and for a brief moment Betty imagined them in this same booth 5 years from now. Betty still laughing at a story Fred told and Jughead sitting there but maybe with a baby. Their baby.

“Ready?” Jughead asked, snapping Betty out of her day dreaming.

“Yeah.” Betty said smiling at him.

“Alright, well I’m going to head over to the construction site to check on a few things.” Fred said.

“I’ll come with you Dad.” Archie said.

“Ok, so we’ll see you two at home? Betty I hope you don’t mind left overs.” Fred said.

“Of course not Fred, left overs sound great.” Betty said.

Fred smiled at her and then he and Archie left.

They all headed for the door.

“Hey, I’m going to use the bathroom real quick. I’ll meet you out by the truck?” Jughead asked.

“Yeah, no problem I’ll meet you out there.” Betty said.

Jughead leaned in and kissed her cheek, taking her by surprise.

“What was that for?” Betty said.

“Do I need a reason?” Jughead quipped, raising an eyebrow.

Betty rolled her eyes at Jughead, “I’ll see you outside.”

Betty walked out of the diner into the fresh fall air. She breathed in deep. It was cold but the sun was out and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Betty was amazed how quickly things felt different between her and Jughead after their talk this morning. She didn’t think it was possible to fall more in love with him but what she felt for Jughead consumed her. Betty’s heart felt like it could leave her chest and fly away. She walked over to the truck and leaned on it. Betty checked her phone, she had a few texts from Veronica. Betty made a mental note to call her when she got back to the house.

When Betty looked up, there was someone staring at her. Betty froze, every hair on her body stood to attention. Betty boldly met the young woman’s gaze. She was tall, with long fire red hair that fell in soft waves over her shoulder. She was impeccably dressed and was wearing high heeled boots. Betty noticed she had long finely manicured red nails that matched her bright red lipstick. She was definitely beautiful but Betty started to get annoyed. Why was she staring at her?

“Can I help you with something?” Betty asked holding the young woman’s stare.

“I’m sorry,” she breathed. “It’s just that you look familiar. You look like someone I used to know.”

Betty suddenly felt a deep sadness for this girl. She looked desolate like she was plagued with something dark.

Betty felt Jughead before she saw him. Jughead put an arm around Betty’s shoulders.

“Cheryl.” Jughead said.

The girl looked at Jughead and glared. “Jughead.”

Cheryl tossed her fire red hair over her shoulder and walked away from them.

_That was weird._ Betty thought to herself.

They got into the truck. “Jughead, who was that?”

Jughead sighed and shook his head. “No one important.”

Betty chewed her bottom lip, she didn’t believe him. Tentatively, she reached over and put her hand on Jughead’s arm. He looked up at her. Betty didn’t say anything, she just gave him a reassuring smile. Jughead sighed heavily.

“That was Cheryl Blossom.” Jughead said, “Her twin brother was murdered by her father.”

All the blood drained from Betty’s face. “You mean… her brother’s murder was the one who…” Betty paused. She couldn’t say the words.

“F.P. helped cover up? Yeah.” Jughead said quietly.

A chill came over Betty, her blood felt ice cold pumping through her body. Betty didn’t know much other than F.P.’s side of the story. She didn’t know that the boy F.P. talked about in his grueling tale had a sibling, let alone a twin. Betty all of the sudden felt incredibly sad. She knew what it was like to lose a sibling in a terrible way and have it destroy your family. But why did Betty look familiar to her? That was the part she couldn’t get over. Cheryl looked at Betty like she knew her. But Betty had definitely never seen her before.

Jughead squeezed her hand and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles.

“Are you ok?” Jughead asked, a look of worry in his eyes.

Betty’s face softened, “Yeah, I’m ok. Are you ok?”

He nodded. “It’s still hard to see her around, you know? Knowing what my Dad did.”

Betty nodded. “It’s not your fault Jug.”

“I know that. But I also know that whether Cheryl and I like it or not, we’ll always be connected by this terrible thing. Our presence will forever be a constant reminder of her brother’s death.”

Betty frowned. She understood this.

Jughead started the truck and pulled out of the diner’s parking lot.

“Hey can we stop by the store? I want to bake something for dinner tonight.” Betty said.

Jughead laughed, “You better be careful Betty, Fred and Archie might make you move in if you keep cooking and baking.”

Betty laughed, “I wouldn’t mind.”

“Yeah right.” Jughead said.

Betty looked at Jughead, was now the time to tell him? Was now the time to admit that she would turn her life upside down and move here to be with him?

Jughead caught better staring at him. She looked away, blushing.

“What goes on in that head of yours?” He asked.

“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know.” She said, deciding against it.


	6. Meet the Coopers

**"Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry**   
**You don't know how lovely you are**

**I had to find you**   
**Tell you I need you**   
**Tell you I set you apart**

**Tell me your secrets**  
 **And ask me your questions**  
 **Oh, let's go back to the start"** _-Coldplay, "The Scientist"_

* * *

Jughead

In the blink of an eye it was already Christmas time. Jughead had gone down to the city the weekend before with Archie so they could as Veronica put it, do they “New Yorker thing”. The four of them went to go see the tree in Rockefeller Center, watched the light show on 5th Avenue and then went ice skating. Jughead had never ice skated before and he was terrible at it. He had Betty’s hand in a death grip as she led them on the outside loop of the rink.

“I can’t believe you got me to do this.” He said sulking.

“Come on, Jughead! You have to admit this is fun.” Betty said.

“Near death experiences are not fun Betty.” He said, scowling at her.

Betty laughed, throwing her head back. Jughead looked at her, she was wrapped up tight in a coat and a huge scarf, with gloves. Betty’s cheeks and nose were pink from the cold. She was so beautiful.

Betty looked at him, Jughead held his breath. There was that look again. Betty had this way lately of looking at him where she put everything she felt into her eyes. Like he could tell how much she loved him just by the looking into her eyes. It was disarming. She leaned in to kiss him but before they could make contact Jughead slipped and fell on the ice, taking Betty with him. First, Jughead looked at Betty with alarm concerned that he hurt her. Betty looked at him with the same concern. They both burst into instantaneous laughter. Jughead pulled Betty closer to him and kissed her. They weren’t usually the type for PDA but, in that moment, the two of them felt like they were in their own personal bubble.

When Betty pulled away she said, “I love making these memories with you.”

Archie came over, “You two ok?” Veronica was close behind him.

“Yeah, I’m just clumsy that’s all. You think you could help me out Arch?” Jughead said.

Archie rolled his eyes and helped Jughead up off the ice floor. Veronica held out her hand for Betty.

Jughead and Archie skated in front of the girls. Jughead looked back and Betty and Veronica had their arms linked and they were quietly talking to each other, laughing.

“Do you think they’re talking about us?” Jughead said.

Archie looked back and laughed, “Probably, isn’t that what girls do?”

Jughead laughed. “You and Veronica seem to be hitting it off.”

Archie smirked, “She’s really great you know? Completely unexpected.”

Jughead laughed, he knew Archie had a crush on Veronica for a while now.

“You ready to go to Betty’s parents’ house next week?”

Jughead grimaced, “If I was being honest I’d prefer if we didn’t go at all. But it’s important to Betty. Her mom started to go to therapy after what happened at Thanksgiving. Betty feels like she can’t give up on them yet.”

Archie nodded, “I’m sure you can relate to how she feels.”

Jughead nodded. He could relate to how Betty feels. There was a time in Jughead’s life that he would’ve done anything for his Dad. No matter what he did, Jughead always forgave him. It wasn’t until everything came out about Jason Blossom’s murder that he cut all ties. Until, Betty of course. The two of them actually went to go visit F.P. the other weekend. Jughead hadn’t seen him since the summer but they wrote to each other and Betty continued to see F.P. on the weekends they weren’t together. F.P. looked good and from all his good behavior and help at the jail he was up for early release.

“Are you two ready to go?” Betty asked. “We should probably head for the apartment if I’m going to make dinner.”

“Yeah we’re ready.” Jughead was ready before they even stepped on the ice.

They returned their skates and headed back for the apartment. Betty realized she forgot an essential ingredient for dinner and she and Jughead headed for the store on the corner while Archie and Veronica headed up to the apartment. When they returned, they found Archie and Veronica making out on the couch. They sprung apart trying to look casual. Betty bit her lip and Jughead stifled a laugh and headed for the kitchen.

* * *

 

It was Christmas Day, Betty had come up two days before and had stayed at Jughead’s. Their plan was to spend Christmas morning with Betty’s parents and then be back in the evening to celebrate with Archie and Fred. They both laughed at how adult it felt. He squeezed Betty’s hand as they stood outside of Betty’s parents’ house. She looked up at him and gave Jughead a weak smile.

“I’ve never brought a boy home before.” Betty said.

Jughead pulled her in and kissed her on the side of her forehead. “It’s going to be ok.”

Betty nodded and together they headed for the front porch.

Betty paused for a moment before the front door of her childhood home. Jughead could tell she was anxious. He wanted to comfort her somehow. Jughead grabbed Betty’s hand, she looked up at him.

“I’ll tell you what. We’ll give this a try and if you feel uncomfortable you just give me the signal and I’ll fake a stomach bug or something.” Jughead said.

Betty cracked a smile. “Oh, really? What kind of signal did you have in mind?”

“You know, like a bird call.” Jughead said straight faced.

Betty giggled, “A bird call?”

Jughead nodded and then imitated a bird, “Cah-CAW”

Betty laughed, “What?”

Jughead shrugged and gave her a smile. Betty stepped closer to him and stepped up on her tippy toes and kissed him. It was soft and slow and made Jughead’s heart skip a beat.

“I love you.” Betty whispered.

He kissed her again, “I love you too.”

Betty took a deep breath and then opened the door. “Hello? Mom? Dad? We’re here.”

“Betty? Is that you?” A man’s voice said. Jughead could hear footsteps coming towards them and he tensed a little. Anxiety in the pit of his stomach. A man appeared in the hallway, Jughead assumed he was Betty’s Dad. He walked straight to Betty and pulled her into a hug.

“Hi Daddy.” She said smiling at him.

Hal Cooper released Betty and then turned to him.

“Dad, this is my boyfriend Jughead.” Betty said.

Jughead held out his hand, “Hello, Mr. Cooper.”

Hal smiled and shook his hand, “Hello! Wow it’s so nice to finally meet you. Betty told me a lot about you the last time she was here. Please, call me Hal.”

Jughead gave him a slight nod and smiled.

“Are you kids hungry? Your Mom’s out doing some last minute shopping. She’s going to make lunch when she gets back.” Hal said.

“No Dad that’s ok, we can wait for Mom to get back.” Betty said.

“Alright how about some coffee then? It’s cold out there right?”

“Coffee would be great, thanks.” Jughead said.

Jughead followed Betty into the kitchen. Her parent’s house was definitely nice. Significantly better than the trailer he grew up in. They walked into the kitchen and sat at the kitchen island while Hal put on a pot of coffee. Betty asked her father how work was going- apparently Betty’s parents owned the local newspaper in town. Jughead smirked to himself, no wonder Betty was so passionate about journalism. She grew up with it.

“So Dad… how’s Mom doing?” Betty asked.

Hal looked at Jughead and then back to Betty. Jughead could tell Hal was uncomfortable.

“She’s good Betty, doing a lot better.”

Jughead took a sip of his coffee trying to look uninterested.

“How’s your internship going?” Hal said, quickly changing the subject. “You’ve almost been there for six months, have they discussed anything permanent with you?”

Betty laughed, “No Dad, probably closer to 10 months. Any entry level positions have to be offered to everyone not just the interns. So the application process may take a little while.”

Then Betty looked at Jughead and said, “Plus I don’t know if I want to stay there.”

Jughead’s heart skipped a beat. What was she trying to tell him?

Jughead looked back at Hal, hoping that he missed their exchange. If he didn’t, he wasn’t giving anything away.

Jughead saw the backdoor open and a blonde hair woman come through the door. Betty looked up at the noise and he saw her immediately tense. He reached up the kitchen island and grabbed Betty’s hand. Delicately rubbing his thumb over Betty’s knuckles.

“Hi Mom.” Betty said.

“Elizabeth.” Jughead cringed at the way Betty’s mom said her name. Like she was already disappointed about something.

Alice Cooper then turned to Jughead and smiled, “You must be Betty’s boyfriend.”

Jughead stood up and stuck out his hand, “Hello Mrs. Cooper, I’m Jughead.”

Alice took his hand, “Jug-Head” she separated his name.

Jughead and Betty remained at the kitchen island while Alice Cooper made lunch. The four of them talked and Jughead felt a little surprised at how easy the conversation went. Well until Alice asked about Jughead’s family. Anxiety gripped Jughead’s chest like a vice grip. Betty’s squeezed Jughead’s hand, which he was still holding.

“Uh…” Jughead said, swallowing.

“Construction.” Betty said, “Right Jughead?”

Jughead searched Betty’s eyes but quickly caught on.

“Yeah, my Dad works construction.”

It was partially true. F.P. and Fred Andrews started a construction company several years back. Betty knew this story.

“And your mother?” Alice asked.

“She left when I was young.” Jughead said quietly, dropping his eyes.

“Oh… I’m sorry to hear that.” Alice said. She actually sounded sincere.

Alice was taking things from the kitchen to the dining room so that they could all sit down for lunch. Alice grabbed the salad which was in a large glass bowl.

“Where did you say you were from?” Hal asked Jughead.

“Oh it’s not that far away actually, about an hour. You might know it- it’s a small town called Riverdale.”

Out of nowhere Alice dropped the glass salad bowl and shattered into a million pieces on the floor. They all froze and turned to stare at Alice Cooper. Jughead felt a creeping chill run over his body. Betty’s mom looked absolutely distraught.

“What did you say?” Alice whispered.

“Riverdale.” Jughead managed to say. “I’m from Riverdale.”

“Mom, is everything ok?” Betty looked from her mother to her father. Jughead noticed that Hal looked a little pale, like he’s seen a ghost.

Alice seemed to snap out of it. “Yes. Look, I’ve ruined the salad.” She kneeled down to start cleaning up the mess.

Betty went into the kitchen and returned with a broom. “Mom, it’s ok I got it. I don’t want you to cut yourself.”

Jughead shook his head a little. From the outside, this small exchange between Betty and her mother would look normal. It would look like a daughter helping a mother clean up broken glass. But it was more. Jughead could see it now, why Betty wore a brave face so naturally. It was because Betty had to do it all the time while she took care of her parents. He internally winced a little, he couldn’t imagine how it must’ve been right after Betty’s sister died.

The rest of the afternoon went smoothly. They finished lunch and then the four of them moved to the living room. Jughead and Betty sat next to each other on the couch. Jughead subconsciously put an arm around Betty and she moved closer to him. It was so natural at this point for them to do this, like muscle memory. Jughead smiled at this thought. Jughead looked up and saw that Hal and Alice Cooper were watching them. Jughead felt a little awkward under their stare.

Betty and her parents exchanged gifts and after that they said their goodbyes. But before Betty left she ran upstairs, claiming she needed something from her room. Jughead waited for her at front door, holding Betty’s coat. Hal stood there waiting with him. Jughead felt a little unease as he shifted foot to foot.

“Look Jughead, I’m not sure what Betty has told you about her mother and I.” Hal started to say.

_Everything._ Jughead thought to himself. _She has told me everything._

Jughead held Hal’s gaze, he wasn’t sure where he was going to take this.

“But I’m glad Betty has someone in her life who is looking out for her.” Hal said, finishing his thought.

Jughead breathed a sigh of relief. “Me too.” He said.

Betty finally appeared. “Ready?”

Jughead held out Betty’s coat for her, pulling it on to her shoulders. Betty and Jughead said their goodbyes to Betty’s parents and they made their way back to the Andrew’s.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Jughead said after about 20 minutes into the drive.

“No, not it all. I think my parents like you.” Betty said smiling at him.

In that moment, Jughead wanted to ask Betty about what she said before about her internship. About how Betty said she wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay there and the look Betty gave him. But he decided against it. Instead, he grabbed Betty’s hand and lifted it to his lips and kissed it. They drove the rest of the way in comfortable silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! 
> 
> So this chapter was hard for me to write based on the simple fact that I felt like it had very little plot. For those of you who have been keeping up with me through Part 1 of this story, you know that I love a good plot twist and that I usually have a slow build to said plot twist. Well, that's what I am doing in this story as well. I'm leaving hints for you through these slow chapters- Betty's encounter with Cheryl in the last chapter and in this chapter as well. The other thing I am trying to do is build these special and yet sometimes simple moments between Betty and Jughead. They are building their relationship. Anyways, what I wanted to tell you is that (as many of you may know) there is a method to my madness! So stay tuned ;) 
> 
> I hope you are enjoying it so far and always THANK YOU for leaving me comments and kudos! 
> 
> P & B, 
> 
> -Peyton


	7. The Picture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! 
> 
> I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update! Life has gotten me a little down lately and with it writer's block. But I finally broke it! So here you are :) This chapter and the next will be from Betty's perspective.

**"You aren't what has happened to you, you are how you've overcome it."** _-Beau Taplin, "Overcome"_

 

* * *

 

Betty

Betty sat at her usual spot in the front room with a cup of coffee and her journal in her lap. She could not believe that another year had come and gone. So much had changed. Betty wrote yearly resolutions every year in her journal and she was flipping her old journal looking for the ones she wrote last year. Betty read them over and smiled fondly.

_This year I will…_

_-Help F.P. reconnect with his son_

_-Graduate from college_

_-Get an internship and move to NYC with V._

_-Work on myself_

_-Meet someone new_

Betty paused on the last one. She remember vividly writing it because at the time Betty didn’t believe in love and she wasn’t interested in having a boyfriend but she just wanted someone new in her life. Someone who challenged her and turned her life upside down. Who knew she would find that in Jughead. Betty sighed and thought about the dark haired boy that was currently asleep in her bed in the other room.

Betty’s thoughts traveled to the night before- New Year’s Eve. Betty had offered to drive back up to Riverdale for New Years. Jughead was always traveling to her and she really didn’t mind spending the holiday relaxing on the couch and watching movies. She had actually looked forward to a quiet night. But then Veronica invited Archie to a VIP New Year’s Eve party and it didn’t make sense to Jughead not to come down to the city if Archie already was.

Veronica had picked out a tight shimmery dress for Betty to wear with these amazing shoes. Despite Veronica’s protests Betty did her own hair and makeup. She wanted a more natural look. When Betty walked out into the front room where Jughead was waiting, he slowly stood and she saw his eyes sweep over her. It made Betty’s skin feel hot. She closed the space between them and pulled Jughead in for a kiss. It did not take long for the kiss to deepen and she felt Jughead’s long fingers run down her back, it made her shiver.

“Have I ever told you that you have great legs?” Jughead said smiling.

“Maybe once or twice.” Betty said scrunching her nose and smirking.

“Ugh will you two get a room?” Veronica said walking into the room.

Betty laughed. “Where is Archie?”

“He was getting ready in your room last I checked.” Veronica said.

“I’ll go check on him.” Jughead said.

A few moments later, the four of them got in an Uber and headed into the city. Of course, because it was New Years, traffic was pretty bad. But it was better than standing on a subway platform in a short dress and heels in the freezing cold. When they got there, Betty was pleasantly surprised of how quiet and cozy the space was. She hadn’t asked Veronica about the details and she assumed they were going to a club. But this place was a room on one of the top floors of a 5 star hotel. Apparently it was a party Veronica’s job was hosting. There were a decent amount of people but it wasn’t too crowded. There was a whole wall of windows and a balcony directly facing time square.

Jughead and Betty hung out with Veronica and Archie for most of the evening. But right before the ball dropped, Betty found herself outside on the balcony. The air was freezing, especially so high up but the view was breath taking.

“Hey there you are.” Jughead said, stepping out on to the balcony. “Geez Betty aren’t you cold? It’s freezing out here.”

Betty turned and smiled at him. “Is it weird if I say I’m kind of enjoying it?”

“Yes.” Jughead said laughing. She could see him shivering.

Jughead walked up and wrapped her up in his arms, her back to his front. Betty held Jughead close, she sighed feeling content. Jughead kissed the side of her face.

“What are you thinking about out here?” Jughead asked.

“I’m just reflecting on the last year, a lot has changed.” Betty said.

She could feel Jughead smile into her neck, “For the better I hope?”

“Yes, definitely for the better.”

They stood in silence for a moment just looking out at the city.

“What about you?” Betty asked. “Did the past year go the way you expected?”

Jughead chuckled a little. “It did right up until June. When this blonde knocked into me in Central Park.”

“How rude” Betty said smiling.

“That’s what I thought too at first, but it ended up being the best day of my life.” Jughead said.

Betty’s heart skipped a beat. She turned around in Jughead’s arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Mine too.” Betty breathed.

Jughead smiled at her and then kissed her.

“You are the best thing that has ever happened to me.” Betty confessed.

Betty could hear Jughead’s breath get caught in his throat. Betty looked deeply into his eyes and she couldn’t control the face splitting grin she had.

“10…9…8…7…”

Betty gasped and pulled Jughead over the railing, they could see the ball in Times Square begin to fall.

“4…3…2…1! HAPPY NEW YEAR!” People shouted from inside.

“Happy New Year, Jug” Betty said beaming at him.

“Happy New Year, Betty.”

Betty grabbed Jughead’s face and pulled him in for a kiss.

Betty smiled at the memory, it was so simple and yet perfect at the same time. Betty continued on trying to work on some new goals but her mind kept going to Jughead and what their future would look like. Betty would at least like to be living in the same city sometime in the next year. She resolved to tell Jughead today that she would move to Riverdale with him or anywhere for that matter. Betty also wanted to work on her relationship with her parents. Betty knew they weren’t perfect but they were still her parents and she knew deep down Polly would have done the same.

Betty swallowed. Polly.

Out of nowhere Betty remembered that when she was at her parent’s house that she went up to Polly’s old room and grabbed her sister’s old diary. Betty had thrown it in her bag and had quickly gone back downstairs because she didn’t want to leave Jughead on his own for too long. With the Christmas festivities at the Andrew’s and then going back to work this week she had completely forgotten all about it.

Betty shakily stood and walked over to her bag that was hanging by the door. Carefully she took out Polly’s diary and walked back over to the couch. She turned the journal over in her hands debating if she really wanted to violate her sister’s privacy even in death. But what Betty hadn’t told anyone was that since the day Betty saw Cheryl in the parking lot at Pop’s Betty had been dreaming about Polly. They were not nightmares which is where Betty normally saw Polly in her dreams but Betty usually dreamt that she met Polly at the park they used to go to as kids.

The dream always started the same, she met Polly on a park bench and they would talk and catch up and then somewhere down the line Polly’s voice would mute. Like she was still talking, but Betty couldn’t hear her. In the dream Polly would get frustrated and get up to leave, Betty would try to stop her but that was the moment she always woke up. It was so strange but Betty knew Polly was trying to tell her something important.

Betty opened the diary and felt tears prick the backs of her eyes as she ran her fingers over her sister’s familiar handwriting. Betty flipped through a few pages, she wasn’t entirely sure what she was looking for. Betty wasn’t even sure if the answer would be in this diary. Betty sighed and then flipped to the last entry that Polly made. There was a small wallet sized picture that bookmarked the page. It was a school picture of a red headed boy. He was definitely attractive, brown eyes and pale skin. Was this Polly’s boyfriend? It had to be- why else would Polly have this picture? Betty studied the boy’s features, he looked almost… familiar.

All the blood drained out of Betty’s face and fear and anxiety hit her stomach like a wrecking ball. She felt bile rise to the back of her throat when she made the connection. The reason why the boy in the picture looked so familiar was because he looked a lot like Cheryl Blossom. Same piercing brown eyes and the fire red hair. Betty put her hand up to her mouth as she started to shake. Was it possible? Was it possible that Jason and Polly had been together?

Betty remembered Cheryl’s words in the parking lot. Betty looked familiar to Cheryl because Betty looked a lot like Polly. Everyone always knew Polly and Betty were sisters because of their blonde hair, similar facial features and green eyes. Betty’s heart was racing.

“Betty?”

Betty almost jumped at the sound. She turned to se Jughead, he was staring at her wide eyed.

Betty got up off the couch and walked over to him with the picture.

“Jughead, is this Jason Blossom?” Betty asked showing him the picture.

“Yes, why do you have that?” Jughead asked.

“I found it in Polly’s diary.” Betty whispered.

“You what?” Jughead said, panic in his eyes.

“It was in Polly’s diary.” Betty said.

“Oh my God.” Jughead said walking back into Betty’s bedroom. He sat down on Betty’s bed and put his head in his hands.

“Did you know?” Betty said. Feeling anger rise in her chest.

“Did I know what?” Jughead said, squinting his eyes at her. He must’ve recognized Betty’s accusing tone.

“Did you know all this time that my sister was dating Jason Blossom?” Betty was shaking. Betty’s legs felt weak but she continued to stand in the doorway of her room.

“No of course not! You think after everything I would keep something like that from you?” Jughead said, clearly defensive.

Betty felt a little relieved. But Jughead’s defensive tone put her on edge. 

Betty took a deep breath and sat down on the bed next to Jughead. She still had Polly’s diary in her hands. Betty swallowed as she opened to Polly’s last journal entry. Betty looked at the date and gasped. It was the day before Betty’s parents sent Polly away.

“What does it say?” Jughead asked wearily.

“It says… that Polly and Jason made a plan to run away together. That she had spent the night packing and dreaming about what the future held for Jason. And…” Betty read over the next few lines, her hand flew up to mouth. She felt the bile rise to her throat again.

“Oh my God.” Betty whispered.

“What? What is it?” Jughead said reaching for the journal.

As he looked it over Betty said, “Jug what was the name of the gang your Dad was in?”

Jughead looked up at Betty a little confused, “The Serpants.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What will Betty do now that she knows about Jason Blossom and the Serpants?


	8. The Truth

**"My past is my past. A book on the bed stand, At any point, I can pick it up and revisit the joy or the pain, but its contents will not rule me anymore. The life still ahead of me is a clean white page. There is work to be done. A world to be explored. Stories inside me still aching to be told."** _-Beau Taplin, "Clean White Page"_

 

* * *

 

Betty

Betty couldn’t breathe and her heart began to pound. She couldn’t catch her breath and began to panic. Betty stood up, steadying herself on her desk.

“Oh my God… Oh my God… Oh my God…” Betty kept repeating it, her chest rising and falling forcefully, tears streaming down her face.

“Betty!” Jughead yelled, he stood up placing his hands on her face.

“Betty breathe! Breathe!” He was trying to sooth her.

But it wasn’t working. Polly had written in her diary that Jason went to see the leader of a gang called the Serpants. Polly wrote that even though she didn’t like the idea, that it was a quick way to make cash. A onetime drug delivery…

All of the sudden Veronica came out of her room and ran into Betty’s.

“Jughead what is going on?” Veronica said, raising her voice.

“I’m not sure, I think she’s having a panic attack.” Jughead said.

Veronica ran out of Betty’s room and returned second later with a brown paper bag.

“Here Betty.” Veronica grabbed Betty’s shoulders and led her to the bed. Opening the paper bag, Veronica put it up to Betty’s mouth encouraging her to take the brown paper bag and breathe into it.

Betty breathed into it and slowly her heart rate came down and she was able to catch her breath. Betty felt embarrassed that she let herself lose control like that. Especially now with the way Jughead and Veronica were looking at her. Betty looked over at the door and saw Archie standing there. Betty cringed.

“I’m ok.” Betty said.

“Betty what is going on?” Veronica asked.

Betty told Veronica about the encounter with Cheryl Blossom, taking Polly’s diary from her house and then finding the picture. Veronica’s hand shot up to her mouth and Archie’s eyes widened with disbelief.

“Jug, do you think your Dad knows that Polly was Jason’s girlfriend? Or that I’m related to her?” Betty asked.

“I have no idea.” Jughead said.

Betty nodded, she knew what she needed to do.

“I’m going to go see F.P.” Betty said.

Betty got up and started looking for clothes to wear. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jughead and Veronica shoot each other a weary look. Betty took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves- that annoyed her so much. Betty knew that Jughead and Veronica talked about her when she wasn’t around and although they both meant well it annoyed her. Betty was tired of people treating her like she was fragile. Betty felt suffocated sometimes, like she couldn’t escape her past if she tried.

“Betty…” Jughead started to say. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Yes! I need to know the truth Jughead.” Betty said firmly.

“Betty I don’t know about this.” Veronica said. “Maybe you should at least wait until you’ve calmed down?”

Betty realized that both Veronica and Jughead were standing in her door way blocking her. Archie was behind them. They weren’t going to let her leave.

“I understand both of you are concerned but I need to do this.” Betty said.

“Betty I think you should just wait until you’ve calmed down. You shouldn’t be driving in your state.” Jughead said, carefully.

Betty winced, _In my state?_

Betty realized they both thought she was losing it. Jughead and Veronica were handling her, not supporting her. She felt so incredibly sad in that moment and then in next furious.

“Fine.” she said. “But let me make sometime perfectly clear- I am tired of this SHIT.” Betty pointed at Jughead and Veronica. Their eyes went wide in shook.

“You two actually thought I didn’t know you’ve been talking about me behind my back? Trading notes on my signs of anxiety and how to “handle” me when I start to look like I’m losing it?”

“Betty that’s not-“ Veronica started to say.

“DON’T” Betty yelled. “Now all of you get out so I can get dressed.”

The three of them hesitated. Betty rolled her eyes.

“For Christ’s sake I am not going to hurt myself! I want to get out of these damn pajamas! And I want some fucking privacy!”

Veronica nodded and turned to leave pulling Jughead with her and closing the door.

Betty sat on her bed and put her head in her hands. Tears slid down her face as she silently cried. Betty knew her past had had a toll on Veronica but she always supported Betty. Veronica never once looked at her like she was crazy until today. And Jughead? He was even worse. Betty couldn’t figure out why he was so against her going to see F.P. Why did it matter when she was going to confront him? Betty realized that Jughead’s reaction made the whole situation worse. He made Betty look like the crazy one. Betty sighed, maybe she was crazy. Maybe she was losing it. All this new information and reading Polly’s diary- maybe that was a mistake.

Betty shook her head and stood up, wiping the tears off her cheeks.

_No._ Betty thought to herself. Was the situation crazy? Absolutely. But she was not and she needed to see F.P.

Betty got dressed and but on her boots. She knew her keys were on the kitchen table and if she timed it right Betty could grab them and get out the door before anyone could stop her. She quietly opened her door and carefully stepped into the hallway. Betty could hear Jughead and Veronica talking in the kitchen and Archie was in the bathroom. Betty took a deep breath and made her move. Quietly she walked into the front room and as soon as she got her hand on her car keys Betty ran for the door of the apartment.

Betty slammed the door behind her and hit the bottom for the elevator. Time moved in slow motion but only seconds passed, the elevator doors opened and Betty jumped on. As she did Betty saw Jughead run out of her apartment and towards the elevator. Betty hit the button for the lobby and repeated punched the button for the doors to close.

Betty could hear Jughead down the hall, “Betty!”

Finally the doors began to close and just before the elevator doors shut she saw Jughead’s pained face.

“ELIZABETH!” He yelled. But it was too late, she was gone.

Once the elevator opened Betty ran. She knew even if Jughead took the stairs he wouldn’t quite at the lobby yet. Betty ran out the door of the apartment building and all the way to her car, careful not to slip on any ice that was on the street. Betty started the car and floored it onto the street making her tires squeal as they strained against the pavement. Her phone began to ring but she just turned her phone off not even bothering to look at who was calling.   


When Betty got to the jail, she was shaking.          Before Betty left she put Jason’s picture in her back jean pocket and it felt like it was burning a hole in her jeans. She entered the jail and signed in. Betty smiled and nodded at the guards who knew her well by now and went to wait for F.P. in their usual spot. Betty felt sick, she honestly had no idea how this was going to go.

“Betty!” F.P. said walking into the library. Betty smiled trying to hide her emotions.

“I’m surprised to see you.” F.P. continued. “I thought you and Jughead were spending New Years together.”

“We are but I needed to see you about something.”

F.P.’s face fell a little. “What’s up kiddo?”

Betty took the picture of Jason out of her back pocket and threw it on the table.

“Where did you get that?” F.P. said

“It was in my sister’s diary.” Betty said, keeping her tone even.

F.P. stared at the picture, “I see.”

“Did you know? Did you know that my sister was Jason’s girlfriend?” Betty asked.

“No…” F.P. said. After a moment he said, “Not at first.”

Betty’s eye went wide and she took a sharp intake of breath.

“What do you mean- not at first?” Betty said, she was trying so desperately to hold on to her temper.

“I only saw your sister once. When Jason had come a few days before to pick up part of the cash we agreed on. Jason came in alone and when I walked him out I saw your sister standing outside.”

“How long?” Betty said.

“How long what?” F.P. asked.

“How long have you known that Polly was my sister!” Betty yelled at him.

F.P. sighed, “About a month after you started coming to see me. After you told me a little about yourself and what happened to your sister I started to put two and two together. I asked my lawyer to look into it.”

“A month?!” Betty spit at him. “You knew all this time that Jason Blossom and my sister were together and you never said anything.”

“Betty, I’m sorry ok? But you never asked me what I did to end up in here and I didn’t know how to tell you. So I just didn’t.”

“You’re sorry?” Betty laughed, feeling tears spill hot onto her cheeks.

F.P. looked at her wearily.

“I TRUSTED YOU!” Betty screamed, slamming her fists on the table. “God after everything I have done for you! I helped you get through school, I defended you and I have risked my relationships because of you! And now this?” Betty stood and a guard from across the library began to speed walk towards her.

“Betty I’m sorry!”

“You’re a coward!” She screamed. “You’re part of the reason my sister is dead! You’re part of the reason why she ended her life!”

The guard had his arms around her, “C’mon Ms. Cooper, I think it is time to go.”

Betty resisted and the guard pulled her out of the library while another held F.P. back.

When Betty got into the hall she pulled herself out of the guard’s grasp.

“I’m good.” Betty said.

The guard released her and then followed close behind as Betty signed herself out and walked out of the prison to the parking lot. Her thoughts were scattered but she knew who she needed to talk to. Betty got into her car and drove out of the parking lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! 
> 
> This chapter was a little difficult to write but I am excited that I was able to update! Looking forward to your comments and as always I hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> P & B, 
> 
> -Peyton


	9. Muted Wounds

**"My knuckle stings from the way I grated it**

**against the window screen**

**a slow subtle burn.**

**I've got bruises on my ankles from the bed frame**

**wood corners jutting out waiting to be proven an obstacle.**

**I stubbed my toe the other day**

**it still aches.**

**Funny how its the paper cuts, the tiny blows,**

**the gnawing soreness,**

**that we're so quick to dismiss.**

**But the muted wounds still leave scars."** _-Meditative Millennial_

* * *

Jughead

Jughead paced Betty’s apartment. Veronica and Archie were sitting on the couch watching him. Jughead was in shock, Betty actually snuck out of her own apartment and ran away. Ran away from him.

“Jughead, it’s going to be ok.” Archie said.

Jughead didn’t acknowledge Archie’s statement. Jughead was just trying to protect Betty, she looked like she was unraveling and Jughead thought a visit to see F.P. would just send her over the edge.

Finally, Veronica got up and stopped him in his tracks. Putting her hands on his shoulders, Jughead looked up at her shocked by the contact.

“Jughead you need to stop.” Veronica said. “Betty is going to be fine. She probably went to go see F.P.”

Jughead nodded. “I need to go find her. I’m going to the prison.”

Archie stood, “I’m going with you.”

They looked at Veronica, “You two go. I’m going to stay here just in case she comes back. I’ll keep trying to call her and if I hear anything I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks Veronica.” Jughead said.

“We’ll find her Jughead, Betty will come around sooner or later.” Veronica said.

Jughead and Archie put their jackets on and headed out of the apartment building to the car. The two of them didn’t say a word the whole ride over to the prison.

After they parked Jughead said, “You don’t have to come in if you don’t want to Arch.”

“No, it’s ok. I want to.” Archie said giving Jughead a reassuring smile.

The two of them entered and as the guard scanned Archie’s I.D. Jughead looked over the sign in log. He froze when he spotted Betty’s name. There was a sign in and sign out time.

“Betty’s been here already.” Jughead said, showing Archie the log. “It looks like she was only here for about 20 minutes.”

“What do you want to do?” Archie said.

“I want to talk to F.P. and find out what happened.” Jughead said.

They waited for F.P. in the visitor’s room. After about 10 minutes Jughead wondered if F.P. was going to come out and see them at all. A wave of anxiety went over Jughead. If F.P. was refusing to see them it must have gone bad when Betty was here.

A door opened and F.P. entered the room. Archie stood and shook F.P.’s hand.

“Mr. Jones it’s good to see you again.” Archie said, his manners winning over.

“Archie.” F.P. said.

F.P. sat down and looked at Jughead.

“I gather this isn’t a social call.” F.P. said.

“No Dad, it’s not.” Jughead said, sighing. “What happened when Betty was here?”

Jughead was a little surprised when he saw F.P.’s face twist in pain, like he was haunted by something.

“I told her the truth. That I knew who her sister was and that her sister was dating Jason Blossom.” F.P. said quietly.

“When did you figure all this out?” Archie asked.

“About a month after Betty started coming to see me.” F.P. said.

Jughead squeezed his eyes shut and leaned back in his chair. He was trying to hold back his emotions. Jughead felt so sad for Betty. She had been trying all this time to get her life together and it seemed like every corner she turned something was always holding her back.

“So you’ve been keeping it from her all this time?” Jughead asked.

“Yeah, I have.” F.P. said.

“How did she react when you told her?” Jughead asked.

F.P. sighed running his fingers through his hair. “Betty was angry. Really fucking angry. The guards had to pull her out of here.”

“Do you know where she went after that?” Jughead asked.

F.P. looked at him, concern in his eyes. “No I don’t. Why you don’t know where she is?”

“We haven’t been able to get ahold of her.” Archie said.

The three of them sat there for a few moments in silence.

Jughead stood to leave. “I’m sorry Dad but we have to go.”

F.P. nodded.

“It was nice to see you Mr. Jones.” Archie said.

“Thanks Arch, you too. Tell your Dad I said hello.” F.P. said.

The boys turned to leave. “Jughead, wait a second.”

Jughead stopped turning to look at his father. F.P. walked over and put something in his hand.

“Betty forgot to take this with her when she left.”

Jughead looked down and it was the picture of Jason Blossom.

Jughead took it and without another word left. They got back into the truck.

“Where should we go now?” Archie asked.

“Let’s go back to Betty’s and see if Veronica has heard anything.” Jughead answered.

Archie nodded and started the truck and exited the parking lot.

The boys spent the first twenty minutes of the drive in silence. All Jughead could think about was Betty. He tried to calm his racing heartbeat, truthfully he was worried sick about her. Where was Betty? Was she safe? Was she lying in a ditch somewhere? Why hadn’t Betty called him back?

Jughead groaned and leaned his head on the window.

“Jug, can I ask you something?” Archie said quietly.

“Sure, Arch. What’s up?”

“What’s going on between you and Veronica?”

Jughead looked up at his friend. “What do you mean?”

“I didn’t notice it entirely at first. But it’s like you two walk on eggshells around Betty.” Archie said hesitantly.

“What are you talking about?” Jughead asked, getting defensive.

“Jug, seriously? You always exchange glances when Betty seems nervous or stressed. I really noticed it when Betty was having her panic attack and when she wanted to leave to go see F.P. You and Ronnie didn’t even need to speak you just exchanged a look.”

Jughead thought about this. Were he and Veronica really always doing that?

“I mean, what did you think when Betty told you she was tired of it?” Archie asked.

“I don’t know to be honest. It really hadn’t crossed my mind. I mean I try not to analyze Betty but I guess she’s been going through so much lately I’m just waiting for her to snap I guess.”

“You mean, you’re worried Betty’s going to hurt herself.” Archie said quietly.

Jughead looked at him. How did Archie know about all of this?

“Betty told me. Over the Thanksgiving weekend.” Archie said, answering Jughead’s silent question.

“When?” Jughead asked.

“One morning when she joined me on my run. We ran down by Sweetwater River and she pulled her sleeve up and I saw her scars. Betty caught me staring and she told me. Betty said she didn’t want her boyfriend’s best friend to think he was dating a freak.”

Jughead winced, “She actually said it like that?”

Archie nodded.

“Look Jug I know it isn’t my place but if Betty didn’t have a dark past do you think you would be treating her this way?” Archie asked.

Jughead stared out the window. To be 100% honest he didn’t know.

“I don’t know Archie. It’s like I want to protect her and I am so scared that she is going to hurt herself. And I really don’t know what I would do if she did. I don’t know if I could handle it.” Jughead confessed.

“Jughead, I really admire Betty you know? Like the majority of people walk around with their pain on the inside. But Betty? She wears her pain on the outside for everyone to see. And I think that’s incredibly brave because the consequence of that is that everyone can judge her for it. And she just has to live with that.”

Jughead nodded, processing what Archie was saying.

“There wasn’t a second from the time Betty told me the truth to seeing her today that I thought Betty was crazy.” Archie said softly.

Jughead snapped his head to meet Archie’s gaze. “I don’t think Betty is crazy!”

“Well from what I saw today man… you could’ve fooled me.” Archie whispered the last part.

Jughead closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the head rest.

“Jug, listen, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. But I’m just telling you how it looks to me, from the outside looking in.” Archie said.

Jughead nodded, “I know Arch.”

Jughead closed his eyes. He didn’t want to talk about this anymore. He ran the whole scenario through his mind again. Maybe Jughead did over react. Jughead shouldn’t have tried to stop Betty from going to get the truth from F.P. He should’ve supported her. If he did, they would be together right now instead of wondering where Betty was.

When they got back to the apartment, Veronica was in the kitchen working on her laptop.

“How’d it go?” Veronica asked.

Jughead pressed his lips into a thin line and then said, “Not well. We didn’t find Betty but she did go to see my Dad.”

“I know.” Veronica said quietly.

Jughead stopped in his tracks. “What do you mean _you know_?”

Veronica sighed. “Betty called me while you two were gone.”

Jughead swallowed. He couldn’t believe Betty hadn’t called him. “Is she safe?” He managed to say.

“Yeah, she’s on her way to see her parents.” Veronica said.

“What? Alone?!” Jughead said.

“Take it easy Jughead.” Archie said, putting his hand on Jughead’s shoulder.

“Jughead,” Veronica stood up to face him. She was twisting her hands nervously. “We screwed up, ok? We handled that whole situation with Betty the wrong way. She’s hurt and I know Betty understands why we reacted the way that we did. But now we need to give her space. Betty will come back when she is ready.”

Jughead started to feel anxious. Betty needed space? He didn’t like the sound of that. He couldn’t lose her again.

Jughead sighed, “Alright well I guess Archie and I should pack up.”

Veronica nodded. Jughead left the kitchen to give Archie and Veronica some privacy. In that moment, he was glad Archie was there to support Veronica in a time like this. In the bedroom, Jughead tried called Betty again but she didn’t answer.

About 30 minutes later, Jughead and Archie were back in the truck heading back to Riverdale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! 
> 
> I am LOVING all the feedback! Thank you so much to those of you who always leave comments :) You keep me going. I hope to post at least one more chapter later today! 
> 
> We will see more in the upcoming chapters with Betty and her parents. Cheryl Blossom will also make a future appearance but the when is still under wraps. 
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> P & B,
> 
> -Peyton


	10. Home and Reconciliation

**"You'll be fine. Feeling unsure and lost is part of your path. Don't avoid it. See what those feelings are showing you and use it. Take a deep breath. You'll be okay. Even if you don't feel okay all the time."** _-Louis C.K._

* * *

 

Betty

Betty stood on her parent’s porch and she was shaking. It wasn’t because of the cold. It was because she was no longer mad but incredibly sad. Oddly enough she wanted the comfort of her parents. Like when she was small and had a nightmare. Betty knocked on the front door. Her parents weren’t expecting her, Betty hadn’t called and she didn’t want to surprise them.

Betty’s mother opened the door. First she looked surprised and then a look of concern etched across her face. Betty started to cry.

“Betty?” Alice said, a strained whisper.

“Mom.” Betty said as she began to sob.

“Hal! Hal get over here.” Alice put her arm around Betty and brought her into the house.

Hal came running into the living room, “Geez Alice what-“ Hal looked over Betty who was uncontrollably sobbing.

“Betty sweetheart? What’s wrong?” Hal said.

Alice still had her arm around Betty. It felt so comforting that Betty leaned into her mother and made herself small on Alice’s lap.

Alice looked up to Hal in shock.

“Betty, honey please. You’re scaring us. Are you hurt?” Hal said.

Betty shook her head and then buried her face in her Mom’s shoulder. Betty was so tired. She was tired of the way Jughead and Veronica looked at her. She was tired of constantly having to defend her sanity. She was tired of feeling grief over Polly. She was tired of hating her mother. She was just so tired. Eventually her sobs turned to hiccups and then she finally calmed down and fell asleep.

When Betty woke up, she was stretched out on the couch. She was covered in a blanket. Her father sat on the end of the couch, Betty’s feet were in his lap. Hal was asleep. Betty looked across the room to find her mother asleep in the recliner. Carefully, Betty got up off the couch. She felt sore and hurt all over, like she had been hit with a wrecking ball. Betty went to the bathroom and peed. Then she went to the kitchen to get some water. She took a long sip and then sighed. Betty found her coat and pulled phone out of the inside pocket. Betty had 5 missed calls and at least a dozen texts from Jughead alone. One from Veronica and surprisingly one from Archie.

Betty put her head in her hands. She knew that it wasn’t fair that she ignoring Jughead. But she was so mad at him. Betty sent him a text saying she was safe at her parents’ house and that she would call him tomorrow.

Both of Betty’s parents entered the kitchen. Betty noted that they too looked tired.

“I’m so sorry I scared both of you.” Betty said. “I just have a lot going on and the only place I could think about coming was here.”

Alice face twisted in pain as she wiped a stray tear off her face.

Hal broke the silence first, “Betty we’re so glad. We always want you to feel like you can come home. We just want to know what’s going on.”

Betty laughed to herself putting her heads back in her hands. “Oh god, where do I even start?”

“How about at the beginning?” Alice said.

“It might take a while.” Betty said.

“I’ll put on a pot of coffee.” Hal said.

Betty smiled, trying to collect her thoughts. Then she started at the beginning. Betty started with sophomore year and spring break. Betty told them about the nightmares and her self-harm. Betty told them about F.P. She told them about how she met Jughead and how she found at that F.P. and Jughead were related. Finally, Betty told her parents about taking Polly’s diary and finding out the connection between Polly and F.P.

To their credit, Betty’s parents had stayed quiet almost the entire time. They asked questions here and there and made facial expressions. But for the most part they just listened.

“Betty why didn’t you come to us sooner about all of this?” Alice said.

“Mom, you weren’t doing well and Dad had his hands full with helping you. I didn’t know what to do. I’ve been working so hard all of this time to keep things to myself, to look out for myself.” Betty said.

Alice nodded.

“Well honey to be honest, we know who F.P. Jones is. But we didn’t know that he was Jughead’s Dad.” Hal said.

“Wait you do?” Betty said.

“Yes, your mother and I looked into after Polly’s death. We felt so lost and we were looking for answers about Polly’s boyfriend and his murder.” Hal said.

“Jughead had nothing to do with all of it.” Betty said, suddenly defending him.

Alice reached over and put her hand on top of Betty’s. “We know Betty.”

“Betty we are so sorry you felt like you had to go through this on your own.” Hal said.

“Betty…” Alice said starting to cry. “I am so sorry I took so much out on you. I should have never hit you or accused you of things. I never once thought about the effect it would have on you. But now that I know, I feel like I’ve failed you as a mother.”

“Mom you didn’t fail me, not completely anyway. I lost my sister but you lost a daughter. I’m not going to lie it’s going to take me awhile to forgive you but I appreciate your apology.” Betty said.

Alice nodded wiping the tears off her face. Hal walked over and put his arm around Alice.

“Betty, your mother and I started attending therapy together. We’d like you to join us every once in a while so we can start working through all these issues as a family.”

Betty nodded, “Ok.”

“Well I think we’ve all had an exhausting evening. Betty we’re going to go up to bed and get some rest. I think you should try to get some too.”

“I’m going to lay back down on the couch.” Betty said, “I don’t think I can sleep in my room tonight.”

Both her parents nodded and headed up to their bedroom.

Betty laid down on the couch and tried to fall back asleep. But she couldn’t get her thoughts to slow. She kept thinking about Jughead and what happened earlier in the day.

Betty decided she couldn’t wait until tomorrow and even though it was almost three in the morning, she picked up her phone and called Jughead.

_“Betty?”_ He picked up on the second ring.

“Hey, sorry did I wake you?” Betty said.

_“No I’ve just been lying here awake thinking about you.”_

“I’m thinking about you too.”

They were both silent for a long time, listening to each other breathe.

“I’m so upset with you.” Betty finally said.

_“I know Betty. I am so sorry.”_

“Listen Jug, I don’t want to talk about all of this over the phone. I just wanted to hear your voice.” Betty said.

_“I can come drive to you right now.”_

“Jughead, no! It’s so late.”

_“I don’t care Betty. I’m not going to be able to sleep until we work this out.”_

“Ok.” Betty said. Betty didn’t think she would be able to sleep either.

_“I’m on my way.”_ Jughead said.

“Ok, I’ll see you soon then.”

_“Betty?”_

“Yes, Jughead?”

_“Do you still mean what you said to me out on the balcony the other night?”_

“Yes, Jughead. Of course I do.” Betty said, feeling a little sad.

_“Ok. I will see you soon.”_

Betty hung up the phone and laid back down on the couch. She was trying to work out what she wanted to say to Jughead once he got here.


	11. An Anchor vs. A Lighthouse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is LONG. Sorry in advance!

**"I'm gonna pick up the pieces**  
**And build a Lego house**  
**When things go wrong we can knock it down**

**My three words have two meanings**  
**There's one thing on my mind, it's all for you**

**And it's dark in a cold December, but I've got ya to keep me warm**  
**And if you're broken I'll mend ya**  
**And keep you sheltered from the storm that's raging on now**

**I'm out of touch, I'm out of love**  
**I'll pick you up when you're getting down**  
**And out of all these things I've done I think I love you better now**

**I'm out of sight, I'm out of mind**  
**I'll do it all for you in time**  
**And out of all these things I've done I think I love you better now"**   _-Ed Sheeran, "Lego House"_

* * *

 

Jughead

Jughead left a note for Archie and Fred in the kitchen and got in the truck and drove off. He was trying to get his thoughts together. What was he going to say? Jughead knew they needed to talk about how he treated Betty after her panic attack. But the truth was he was scared. He was scared all the time. Jughead thought Betty was brave when Betty first told him about her dark past and what was going on in the present. But after a while the little things started to take a toll on him.  Jughead was waiting for Betty to snap under the crushing weight that was her life right now. Jughead didn’t think he could survive if Betty ever hurt herself. But if anything Jughead knew he had to stop tiptoeing around Betty and be honest with her about hownall these things made him feel. Jughead knew if he had done that in the first place they wouldn’t be in this situation right now.

Jughead pulled up in front of Betty’s parents’ house and sent her a text. Jughead got out and walked up to the house. Betty came out onto the porch with two steaming cups of coffee.

“Hi.” Betty said.

“Hi.” Jughead said.

Jughead felt his heart drop. Betty looked so tired. There were dark circles under her eyes, she was paler than usual and it was clear Betty had been crying. Jughead reached for the cup of coffee she handed him and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.

Betty smiled. Jughead looked her over. Betty was wearing a large hoodie with a vest over it and sweat pants.

“I gather we’re not going inside?” Jughead said.

“Yeah.” Betty said sighing. “My parents didn’t go to bed that long ago and I don’t want to wake them.”

Jughead was surprised by this. “What did you tell them?”

“Everything. I told them everything.” Betty said quietly.

Jughead nodded and took a sip of his coffee. He smiled a little because Betty definitely knew how to make good coffee.

“What do they think about the connection to my Dad?” Jughead said.

“They knew already.” Betty said.

“Seriously? And they never told you?” Jughead asked.

“Nope.” Betty said.

“What about my connection to my Dad.” Jughead said. He was afraid of this answer.

“They don’t care. Or at least they didn’t seem to care. They knew you had nothing to do with any of it and they genuinely like you.” Betty said giving him a little smile.

They sat quietly for a while, sitting on the top step on Betty’s front porch. The expanding silence was starting to put Jughead on edge.

“Betty I don’t even know where to start.” Jughead admitted.

“How about at the beginning?” Betty said.

“What do you mean?” Jughead asked.

“I mean like when you first started catching yourself worrying about me more and analyzing me instead of just being able to enjoy yourself when we spent time together.” Betty said quietly.

Jughead sighed. “It started back at the beginning of November when you got the call from your Dad about Thanksgiving. You had a night terror that night and I couldn’t wake you up.”

Betty stiffened a little. “You never told me that.”

“I know and I guess that was my first mistake. Veronica told me that you usually don’t remember them and I thought it would do more harm than good to bring it to your attention.” Jughead admitted.

“So that’s when you and Veronica started talking about me behind my back. You were going to her for reassurance with your concerns instead of talking directly to me.” Betty said. It was clear in her voice that she was pissed off.

“Yeah. I swear Betty I didn’t do it on purpose. You made it so clear that you didn’t want to be seen as “crazy” and it’s not that I think that because I don’t. But it made me more afraid to talk to you about it.” Jughead said.

“But look what ended up happening Jughead. You literally told me that I shouldn’t go anywhere because of my _mental state_.” Betty used air quotes when she said mental state.

“That’s what really hurt the most I think.” Betty continued. “I tried to ignore it the looks you and Veronica were exchanging. But yesterday when I wanted to go see F.P. the two of you looked like you were trying to calm a caged animal. But you two were the ones caging me in.”

Jughead nodded.

“And I blame you both equally.” Betty said. “Veronica should not have held you back from doing anything. Like coming outside with me that day when I got the call from my Dad or telling me how much my night terror scared you. But at the same time your reactions were also having an effect on Ronnie.”

“Betty I am just so scared. I’m scared all the time that something is going to happen in our lives and you are just going to snap and do something drastic.” Jughead said.

Betty held his gaze, tears streaming down her face. Betty looked like she was in so much pain.

“Jughead you told me the day we got back together that you didn’t care about my dark past. But now you are just using it against me.” Betty said.

Archie’s words came back to him then, _”Look Jug I know it isn’t my place but if Betty didn’t have a dark past do you think you would be treating her this way?”_

“You’re right. I am and I realize that now. But it’s also things that have happened since we got together.” Jughead said.

“But when I came to see you Thanksgiving night, you seemed fine. I was impressed with how well you handled everything and how much love you showed me. Why didn’t you tell me how you were really feeling?” Betty said.

“Because at the time while I was taking care of you, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t ok. It was after.” Jughead said. He reached over and brushed a stray tear off Betty’s cheek with his sleeve.

Betty leaned into his touch and moved closer to him. She grabbed his hands.

“Jughead I want you to listen to me. When I first started to hurt myself and even months after I started to get help when I got stressed or something happened- hurting myself was all I could think about. It wasn’t until you left me the first time that I realized that I didn’t need it anymore. I could just feel the pain instead of causing myself pain.” Betty said. Pausing to wipe a tear that was now falling down Jughead’s face. This was so painful for him to listen to.

“But after Thanksgiving, after we had our moment in your room I knew that I would never need to hurt myself again because I had you. Every moment after that, if I felt the walls closing in I could call you or snuggle close to you when we were together. I know that sounds like a lot of pressure and I would be ok if we weren’t together anymore. But just your voice or the sound of your heart beat calms me. It gives me the courage to realize that no matter how bad I feel, things are going to be ok.” Betty finished.

Jughead grabbed Betty’s face and leaned his forehead into hers. “You do the same thing for me Betty.”

Betty sobbed a little. “I don’t believe you. You’ve been walking around keeping things from me and being afraid and not telling me about it. You promised me things wouldn’t be like this.”

Jughead felt a wave of fear wash over him. How could she not believe him? His heart started to pound as he realized he was losing her.

_No, no, no!_ Jughead thought. They were just beginning, how could he already be losing her?

“Betty you do! I promise that you do. I know I haven’t handled things well but I’ve never done this before. I’ve never been in a real relationship before. I’ve never loved someone like the way I love you Betty. I just need a little more time.” Jughead said, he wasn’t fighting back his tears anymore. Hot angry tears streamed down his face.

Betty didn’t say anything, she just silently cried.

“Betty please give me a little more time.” Jughead whispered.

Betty kissed him. Jughead always marveled at how soft her lips were when she cried.

“Jughead I am in this. I am all in. Do you hear me? I want this, I want you. I need you in my life. But I also have to be able to trust you. Trust you to tell me things and not treat me like I’m going to break. Because…” Betty’s voice faltered. “Because if I can’t trust you I don’t know how this is going to work.”

“Betty you can trust me. I know I haven’t given you a good reason to but I promise I will work on it. I will spend the rest of my life working on it.” Jughead said. “Just don’t leave me. I can’t lose you when our story has barely even started.”

“I’m never going to leave you, Jughead.” Betty said. She starting kissing him all over. Jughead felt relief wash over him and he sat stark still like a statue. Letting Betty’s feather like kisses heal him.

They held each other for a long time. The birds started to chirp as the sunrise started to stain the night sky.

“What’s the difference between an anchor and a light house?” Betty asked.

Jughead looked at her. “Really? You’re going with a riddle?”

Betty laughed, “I’m serious! What’s the difference?”

Jughead thought about it for a minute. He knew the obvious answer but he was more curious as to where Betty was going with this.

“I don’t know, what is it?”

“Anchors hold ships in place and light houses stand on the shore shining.” Betty said.

“So?” Jughead said.

“Jughead I want you to be my lighthouse not my anchor. Lighthouses don’t run all over the shore looking for boats to save. They just stand there shining, guiding them home. I don’t want us to hold each other down or hold each other back. I want us to go out into the world and at the end of the day, we’ll always guide each other home.” Betty said.

Jughead chuckled and smirked at how poetic what Betty just said was.

“Betty Cooper I would love to be your lighthouse.” Jughead said.

Betty smiled at him. “I love you Jughead Jones.”

“I love you too.” Jughead said.

“Do you promise?” Betty said.

Jughead put his arm around Betty and pulled her close. He kissed her lightly on the side of her forehead. “Of course I do.”

Jughead felt elated. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. Life was such a roller coaster but with Betty he didn’t seem to mind. Jughead was going to be better for her and it seemed like Betty was going to try harder too. They would heal and grow together. Face things together. Jughead smiled to himself.

“Can we go inside yet because I’m pretty sure my butt is frozen to this porch.”

Betty laughed, “Yes. Let’s go inside. I’m pretty tired anyway.”

“Do you want me to leave?” Jughead said.

“No!” Betty suddenly shouted, latching on to him. Jughead swooned. That was so cute.

“Ok! Geez.” Jughead laughed.

They went inside and Jughead stretched out on the couch and Betty snuggle up next to him. She pressed herself close so they would both fit on the couch.

“My parents will be shocked to find two of us on this couch in the morning.” Betty said smiling.

Jughead laughed, “You’re a trouble maker.”

“Jug, when are we going to move in together?” Betty asked.

Jughead froze. He wondered how long that had been on Betty’s mind.

“Soon. Maybe in the spring? Definitely by the summer. I need to save a little more money.” Jughead said.

Betty sighed. “What if I moved to Riverdale?”

Jughead looked at her, “You would do that for me?”

“Yes. I just want us to be together.” Betty said.

Jughead tightened his arms around Betty.  “To be truthful, I don’t know if I want to settle down in Riverdale. Too much history.”

Betty nodded.

“Can we wait a few more months? Will you do that for me?” Jughead asked. He knew he was asking a lot but what Betty didn’t know is that Jughead had a plan. A plan he couldn’t quite fill her in on just yet.

“Yes, I can do that for you.” Betty said quietly.

“I promise the wait will be worth it.” Jughead said.

Betty nodded. He could tell she was starting to fall asleep.

“Jug?” Betty asked.

“Yes?”

“Will you help me track down Cheryl Blossom? I want to ask her what she knew about Polly.” Betty said.

“Yeah, I can do that. We can try to track her down tomorrow, or later today rather.” Jughead said.

Betty yawned, “Ok.”

Jughead listened to Betty’s steady breathing and he too quickly fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! 
> 
> It felt so good to get this chapter typed and published! I was struggling a little bit with writing it but then I heard "Lego House" by Ed Sheeran on the radio and BAM! I had it all in my head. 
> 
> I want to be forthcoming and tell you that what I wrote about the Anchor vs. Lighthouse is not all my original material. Part of it is from a quote by Anne Lamott, "Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining." However, the comparison of an anchor and a lighthouse and what Betty says to Jughead about the comparison is a variation straight from my wedding vows believe it or not :) <3 I have never liked the idea of comparing a significant other to an anchor because in truth your significant other shouldn't hold you down. They should guide you home and be your safe harbor in a storm. But of course- words are ALWAYS up to interpretation. 
> 
> Anyways- I know you all were waiting for this moment between Betty and Jughead and to be honest so was I. There is still a few things Jughead and Betty will face but at least now they will be facing those things together as a team. 
> 
> As always I hope you enjoyed it!!! Looking forward to reading your comments. 
> 
> P & B, 
> 
> -Peyton


	12. Communal Loss

**"Let him know that you know best**   
**Cause after all, you do know best**   
**Try to slip past his defense**   
**Without granting innocence**   
**Lay down a list of what is wrong**   
**The things you've told him all along**   
**And pray to God he hears you**   
**And I pray to God he hears you**

 

**Where did I go wrong?**   
**I lost a friend**   
**Somewhere along in the bitterness**   
**And I would have stayed up with you all night**   
**Had I known how to save a life"** _-The Fray, "How to Save a Life."_

* * *

 

Betty

Betty opened her eyes and it took her a moment to figure out where she was.

_Oh right, my parents’ house._

Betty suddenly remembered Jughead. She started to panic. Where was he? Did he leave? Then she heard voices in the kitchen. Betty recognized her mother’s voice and then she heard Jughead’s. Relief washed over her, he was still here. Betty reflected on the night before, or rather the few hours before. Working things out with Jughead went well. More than well. Betty thought about what Jughead said about the things that had happened since they had gotten together.

Betty sighed. She knew that her night terrors were pretty scary. Betty had also not given Jughead any warning in hopes that they would never happen. That was stupid and if Betty remembered correctly, that was the one moment that lit the match for this whole mess. If Betty had been straight forward about it instead of just pretending it wouldn’t it might’ve saved them a lot of this heart ache. It would be naïve for Betty to think that those things wouldn’t take a toll on Jughead. Or any sane person for that matter. Betty resolved to talk to Jughead more about this later today.

Betty’s deep thoughts were broken by a burst of laughter coming from the kitchen. Betty strained to listen to what was happening in the kitchen. Jughead and her mother laughing? That seemed strange.  

Betty got up and walked into the kitchen. She found Jughead sitting at the kitchen island, perched on a stool. Jughead’s beanie sat on top of his head and he had both of his hands around a cup of coffee. Man was he a sight for sore eyes.

“Good morning, sweetheart. Coffee?” Alice asked.

“Thanks Mom that’d be great.” Betty said.

“Hey you.” Jughead said, putting an arm around her and pulling her close.

Jughead kissed her on the side of her forehead and her eyes fluttered. She loved that feeling.

“How long have you been up?” Betty asked.

“Just an hour or so. Your Dad went to run an errand and your Mom here has been keeping me company.” Jughead said.

“I promise I have been behaving myself Elizabeth.” Alice gave Jughead a conspiratorial wink.

Betty laughed a little. Betty was glad that her Mom and Jughead were getting along.

“You two kids ready for breakfast?” Alice asked.

“Yeah Mom, that’d be great.” Betty said.

It all felt so normal to Betty. Here they were sitting at the kitchen island in her parent’s house, drinking coffee and talking while Betty’s Mom made breakfast for them. It sort of made Betty feel uneasy but she figured this is what it should look like when you bring your boyfriend home to visit with your parents. Eventually Hal came home and the four of them enjoyed a nice breakfast together.

After breakfast, Betty sent her boss a quick e-mail that she would not be back in to work for a day or two. Betty apologized profusely and acknowledged the time was not ideal but a family emergency had come up. She promised to explain more when she returned to work.

Betty decided that it was time to track down Cheryl Blossom, there was no point in putting it off. This was the last piece (or so she hoped) to her sister’s suicide and that after she got this last piece of information, Betty could move on. Betty knew deep down that her life would never be normal. Especially not after all that had happen over the last few years. But to be truthful, normalcy wasn’t something that she was looking for. What Betty wanted was to be happy. She knew happiness wasn’t a destination but rather a journey. Betty also knew that happiness wasn’t permanent, life had taught her this. But she was so tired of feeling like she had to work so hard to achieve it. She wanted to feel it in small moments, like enjoying a cup of coffee or watching a snow fall. It wasn’t that Betty never felt happy but the weight on her shoulders always made her feel like it was holding her back from what she could truly feel. Betty really felt like talking to Cheryl would help.

There was a light knock on her door.

“Come in.” She said, closing her laptop.

Jughead walked in. Betty stood and walked over to him.

“Hey there.” Jughead said.

“Hi.” Betty said smiling. Betty leaned up on her tippy toes and kissed Jughead. Betty originally intended for it to be a light kiss but she wrapped her arms around Jughead’s neck and deepened the kiss. Jughead responded immediately.

When she pulled away Betty looked deeply into Jughead’s eyes. She always marveled at how blue they were, like a clear blue ocean.

“What?” Jughead asked.

“You make me happy.” Betty said simply.

Jughead searched her eyes and smiled. “You make me happy too.”

“Are you ready to go?” Betty asked.

“Yeah. It was nice to spend some down time with your folks.” Jughead said.

Betty nodded, collecting her things. Betty grabbed Jughead’s hand and together they walked downstairs.

“Do you have any ideas on where to find Cheryl?” Betty asked.

“Uh, yeah actually I do.” Jughead said.

“Oh?” Betty said, genuinely intrigued.

“Yeah, actually Archie had her phone number and I asked him to call her believe it or not.” Jughead said.

“Archie had her phone number?” Betty asked confused.

“Yeah.” Jughead said laughing a little. “They had a small thing back in high school.”

“Really?” Betty said.

“Yeah it was brief after her brother died.” Jughead said.

Betty said goodbye to her parents, promising she and Jughead would be back for dinner. Archie had set up a meeting time with Cheryl back in Riverdale at the local diner where Betty had first seen Cheryl.

On the drive over, Betty was nervous. What were she and Cheryl going to talk about? What had Archie already told her? Jughead reached over and squeezed her hand.

Betty sighed. “What gave me away?”

Jughead smiled a little, “You always bite the side of your thumb when you’re deep in thought. I just figured it was about Cheryl.”

“Any idea as to what Archie already told her?” Betty asked.

“No, I think he just asked her to meet at the diner honestly. Archie is actually going to meet us there.” Jughead said.

Betty nodded. This made her relax a little. Strength in numbers.

“Jughead, I owe you an apology.” Betty said.

Jughead looked at her briefly, obviously confused and then turned his attention back to the road.

“Apologize for what?” Jughead said.

“For the problems we’ve had lately. I feel like I am just equally responsible. I should’ve been honest with you about my night terrors. I guess I was trying so hard to show everyone that I am ok that I ended up putting up a wall between us. I never want you to think that you can’t talk to me. I’m not perfect and I know dealing with my roller coaster of a life can be exhausting.”

“It’s ok Betty. I know this has been hard for you. Especially letting me in.” Jughead said.

Betty leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“Thank you for being so good to me.” Betty said.

“Are you kidding? It’s the least I could do after you giving me a second chance.” Jughead said.

“You never needed one Jug.” Betty smiled.

They pulled into Pop’s diner. Betty’s heart began to race. She was trying to collect her thoughts. Jughead pulled out his phone.

“I’m going to text Archie and let him know that we are here.” Jughead said.

Betty nodded. Betty closed her eyes. She just wanted to ask Cheryl what she knew about Polly. Clearly, Cheryl knew who Polly was or she wouldn’t have recognized Betty in the parking lot that day.

Jughead’s phone went off.

“Ok, they’re inside at a booth.” Jughead said.

They got out of the truck. Betty pulled her ponytail tight to her head and straightened her clothes. Betty took a deep breath and then laced her fingers through Jughead’s.

“Betty just so you know. I’m not going to sit with you while you talk to Cheryl. This is a big thing she is doing and seeing me is going to make her feel uncomfortable. I’m sure Archie would be willing to sit with you if you wanted.” Jughead said.

“That’s ok Jughead, I think I’ll be ok.” Betty said.

Jughead held open the door for Betty.

Betty looked around and immediately spotted Archie and Cheryl. They were hard to miss since they both had fire red hair. Betty turned to face Jughead. He put both hands on her arms.

“You can do this.” Jughead said. He kissed her on the forehead and then walked over to take a seat at the counter.

Betty walked over the booth where Cheryl and Archie were sitting. Archie saw her and smiled. This was reassuring to Betty.

“Hey Archie.” Betty said.

“Hey Betty.” Archie said.

Betty looked at Cheryl, Betty was shocked by the resemblance between Cheryl and Jason Blossom. They were definitely twins.

“Cheryl, this is Betty Cooper. She is the friend I was telling you about that needs your help.” Archie said.

“Wow Arch, when you said you had a friend that needed my help I assumed you meant Jughead.” Cheryl said looking up at Betty. Pain clearly etched over her face.

Betty suddenly felt sad and regretted her choice to set up with meeting. Normally this feeling would make her retreat but she needed answers.

“Archie would you mind giving Cheryl and I some privacy?” Betty asked quietly.

Archie nodded, “Sure thing Betty, I’ll be right over there with Jughead.”

Archie nodded and then got up.

Betty swallowed and then took a seat. “I’m assuming you know who I am… Or rather who I’m related to.”

“Yeah, I pieced that together when I saw you in the parking lot a few weeks ago.”

Betty nodded. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out the picture of Jason that she found in Polly’s journal. Cheryl froze when she saw the picture of her brother.

Cheryl’s eyes met Betty’s. Betty stared right back at Cheryl and saw a lot of things she recognized in herself- loss and loneliness.

“I’m really sorry for bothering you like this.” Betty began to explain, “I just want to know what you know about my sister Polly.”

Cheryl gently picked up the picture, studying it. She was quiet for a long time.

“I met Polly at a football game. She was a rival cheerleader and I knew she was secretly dating my brother. Honestly, she was nice. Most people aren’t so nice to me right off the bat because I come off as a bitch.”

Betty flinched at Cheryl’s last comment.

“They were dating for a while and of course when Jason went to go see Polly I knew about it. One night Jason came home and told me that he wanted to marry Polly. I didn’t quite understand at the beginning why he wanted to rush things. But he was my twin so I helped him. We convinced my great grandmother to give Jason her old engagement ring. Jason proposed to Polly the night before he died.” Cheryl’s voice started to trail off. Tears started to stream down her face.

Betty handed Cheryl a tissue out of her purse. Cheryl blotted her tears, clearly trying not to ruin her immaculate makeup.

“I tried getting in touch with Polly right around the time Jason disappeared. I assumed they had run away together. But later on, after everything was found out about Jason’s murder and my Dad, Polly called me and I realized I was wrong all along.” Cheryl paused. Betty grabbed Cheryl’s hands, trying to comfort her.

“I didn’t know Polly was going to kill herself. I found out that Polly died about a week later when I drove to your house to see her.” Cheryl said.

“You came to my house?” Betty asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, the day of the funeral. I asked someone going inside who died and they told me it was Polly.” Cheryl said.

Betty nodded, trying to think back to the day of her sister’s funeral. It was definitely a blur. But she had no memory of Cheryl being there.

“Cheryl, did you know that Polly was pregnant?” Betty asked gently.

Cheryl squeezed Betty’s hands. Cheryl was biting her lips as she squeezing her eyes shut, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Yes.” Cheryl whispered.

Betty felt so sad for Cheryl. She has lost so much- her twin, her father, her niece or nephew. Basically her entire family.

“I’m so sorry Cheryl. I am so so sorry.” Betty said.

Cheryl just nodded, she was gripping Betty’s hand so tightly that it began to hurt. But Betty knew this point of contact was comforting for Cheryl. After a few moments, Cheryl seemed to regain her composure.

“I really like your sister Betty. Polly was incredibly kind and she looked past so much bullshit. My brother and I didn’t have the best parents… they always held us to these incredibly high standards because we were Blossoms. It molded me harder than it did Jason… but Polly liked me anyway.” Cheryl’s eyes fell as she finished her statement.

“I wish I could’ve met your brother. I bet I would’ve liked him.” Betty said.

The two girls smiled at each other, taking comfort in the communal loss of their siblings. Betty looked over the booth to see Jughead and Archie anxiously watching the two girls.

“I want to tell you that I’m sorry for the part that F.P. Jones played in your brother’s murder. He should’ve done more for Jason. If he did maybe both of our siblings would still be alive.” Betty said quietly.

Cheryl’s eyes locked on Betty’s.

“How can you be dating Jughead if you know all of that?” Cheryl asked, her tone going dark.

Betty shrugged. “I didn’t find out about the connection until recently to be honest. Plus Jughead is not at fault for his father’s actions. F.P. did those terrible things, not Jughead.”

Cheryl nodded, she looked like she was thinking about this.

“I slapped him once you know.” Cheryl said.

Betty eyes widened, “Really? When?”

“When we were in high school. Right after it was discovered that his Dad played a part in my brother’s murder. Jughead came up to me in the cafeteria and he apologized to me. It was like the last straw of my sanity you know? I just snapped and started attacking him. He just… stood there and took it. Like he knew that’s what I needed somehow. Anyway, Archie pulled me off of him.” Cheryl said.

Betty’s mind was blown. Jughead had confessed his connection to Cheryl but he never shared any of that. Betty felt a deep sadness for Jughead. She wondered how long Jughead carried the responsibilities of his father in this town, like a modern day Sisyphus.

“You know,” Betty said. “I’m sure if you ever wanted to Jughead would be willing to talk to you.”

Cheryl nodded but didn’t say anything to that. The girls sat in silence for a few more moments. Betty got the sense that their time was ending.

“Cheryl, if it’s alright with you… I’d like to stay in touch?” Betty said.

Cheryl looked surprised, “Why would you want to do that?”

Betty’s courage faltered a little at Cheryl’s reaction. “Well because… if our siblings were alive today we’d be family.”

Cheryl face twisted a little, it looked like she was going to cry again. Betty pulled out her notebook and wrote down her phone number and her e-mail. Betty got up from the booth and Cheryl also got up. Out of the corner of her eye Betty could see Jughead and Archie stand as well.

Betty handed the piece of paper to Cheryl. Betty held on to Cheryl’s hand.

“I know today has been incredibly hard but I want you to know that I appreciate you meeting with me.” Betty said.

Cheryl looked from Betty’s hand on hers to Betty’s eyes. Before Betty could think twice about it she pulled Cheryl in for a hug. Cheryl was shocked by this and stood stiffly as Betty held her tightly.

“I meant what I said, please keep in touch. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you need anything.” Betty paused, choking back tears. “I’m sure it’s what they would’ve wanted.”

Cheryl returned Betty’s hug a little. Betty could feel Cheryl nod at her words. Betty made eye contact with Jughead. His face was scrunched into a grimace. It looked like he was fighting back his own tears. This made a few tears slide down Betty’s cheeks. She mouthed, “I love you.” to him. Jughead nodded.

Betty pulled away from Cheryl.

“It was nice to meet you Betty.” Cheryl said.

“Take care of yourself Cheryl. I hope to hear from you soon.” Betty said.

With that, she walked towards Jughead. As she neared him, Jughead held his hand out to her. Betty took it and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Archie was the first one to exit the diner and Jughead waited for Betty to lead. Betty took one last look at Cheryl who was still staring at them.

“Ready?” Jughead asked.

Betty nodded and the two of them left the diner and headed towards the truck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! 
> 
> I am SO SORRY it took me so long to update. I went on vacation and had every intention of continuing to work on this but it didn't happen. I hope you enjoyed this update! I'm thinking a few more chapters for this story before I bring it to a close. 
> 
> As always, I look forward to reading your thoughts. 
> 
> P & B, 
> 
> -Peyton


	13. Good Things Take Time

**"She was the most beautiful, complicated thing I'd ever seen. A tangled mess of silky string and all I wanted of life was to sit down cross-legged and untie her knots."** _Atticus, "Knots"_

* * *

 

Jughead

Jughead drained the last of his water out of his glass and stood to clear his plate.

“I can get that Jughead.” Alice offered.

“That’s ok, I can get it.” Jughead said. Reaching for Alice’s plate too and then Hal’s.

Two months ago, if someone told Jughead that he would be having dinner with the Coopers once a week he would’ve laughed in disbelief. It wasn’t intentional at first. Back in January Hal had complained about some heavy lifting he had to do around the house. Jughead had offered to help him out which of course, Hal took him up on his offer. Jughead returned a week later to help out and after Alice invited him to stay for dinner. Despite the background story and craziness he knew about Betty’s parents, he saw how lonely they were with no children in the house. Jughead had offered to come back the following week if they needed anything. At first, the Coopers declined but Jughead called the next week anyway and turns out there was some things Alice needed help with. After that, it was expected that Jughead would show up once a week to help the Coopers with something and then he stayed for dinner.

At first, Jughead didn’t tell Betty. He couldn’t put his finger on why other then he wasn’t 100% sure how Betty would react. Things had been going so well between them after what happened over New Years. Jughead didn’t want to make Betty angry. Why she would be angry? Jughead didn’t know. However, he knew it wouldn’t stay under wraps for long. After about the fourth dinner, Alice had called Betty to compliment her on picking such a wonderful man. Obviously, Betty was confused but to Jughead’s relief Betty played along. Betty called him immediately after.

“I here you have been spending time with my parents?” Betty said, nonchalantly.

“Oh yeah…about that…” Jughead said trying to sound casual.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Betty asked.

“I honestly don’t know. I went over a couple of times to help your Dad put some heavy stuff up in the attic and then I just kept checking on them and your Mom always offered me dinner. You know I can’t resist food.” Jughead said.

Betty laughed at this.

“Ok, but why keep it a secret?” Betty said.

“I don’t know Betty, I know your relationship with your parents has been rocky and I didn’t know how you would react.” Jughead said, feeling guilty about it.

Betty sighed, “I thought we were working on being honest with each other…”

Jughead’s heart sank and he mentally kicked himself. Betty was right.

“Are you mad?” Jughead asked, chewing his bottom lip.

“No, Jug of course not. I think it’s sweet.” Betty said.

Jughead sighed with relief. “I’m sorry I should’ve told you.”

Betty was silent for a moment. “It’s ok.”

“How was coffee with Cheryl?” Jughead asked, changing the subject.

“It was good. Not as stiff as last time. I was prepared with more questions that don’t relate to our dead siblings.” Betty said.

Betty had gotten together with Cheryl one time before and although it wasn’t terrible it didn’t go as well as Betty had hoped. To Cheryl’s credit, she did warn Betty she was kind of a bitch. Jughead didn’t think this about Cheryl entirely, she just had an abrasive personality.

“She asked about you.” Betty said, breaking his train of thought.

This surprised him a little, “Really?”

“Yeah. It was simple, just asking how you were.” Betty said.

“Interesting. Well I’m glad it went well.” Jughead said.

“Me too. I invited her to spend Easter with us.” Betty said.

Juyghead’s eyebrows shot up in surprise to this. “You’re kidding.”

Betty laughed a little, “No! I even talked to my Mom and both my parents were on board but Cheryl declined. Apparently she’s not religious and doesn’t celebrate.”

“Oh well. At least you offered.” Jughead said.

“Ok, well I have to go. See you this weekend?” Betty asked.

“Yeah, of course. I’m looking forward to it.” Jughead said.

* * *

 

Easter soon arrived. Since both the Andrew’s and the Cooper’s lived in upstate New York it was still pretty cold outside. Fred and Archie didn’t really celebrate Easter, not since the boys were in Middle School anyway. Fred still bought a decent amount of candy- but these days it was just another weekend. Jughead and Betty were going to spend Saturday into Sunday at her parents’ house.  But it was Friday night and Jughead sat on the porch reading a book waiting for Betty to arrive.

Jughead was anxious about seeing her. They had gone longer than usual seeing each other. Almost three weeks. But Betty was extremely busy at work and she adamantly did not want Jughead making the trip so he could just sit and watch Betty work all weekend. Jughead didn’t mind the idea. He figured that’s what they would do anyway after they moved in together.

Jughead winced at that last thought. Jughead knew Betty was getting impatient. Spring was in full swing and Betty had asked him yet again when they were going to live together. Jughead knew the long distance relationship had been hard on her but to be truthful, he was making good money working for Fred and not paying for rent. Having grown up poor most of his life, Jughead didn’t think it was reasonable to just leave something like that with nothing else lined up. Jughead didn’t want to move in with Betty and have her provide for them before he got on his feet. Jughead wanted to take care of her.

Jughead sighed. About two weeks ago they had gotten into a small fight about it. Jughead just kept asking Betty to give him more time to save up money and when she asked for a timeline Jughead couldn’t answer. Since then Betty has been busy and distant but Jughead tried not to get worked up about that.

He looked up when Betty’s car pulled into the driveway. Jughead got up and started heading down the stairs. Betty smiled at him and waved. Betty got out of the car and ran up to him, jumping into his arms. Jughead caught her, breathing in her scent.

“I’ve missed you.” Betty said.

“You have no idea.” Jughead said.

Jughead set Betty down and put both of his hand on Betty’s face and bent down to kiss her. Betty pulled away and went back to her car to get her bag. Jughead immediately took it from her and they walked together up the stairs.

“Are you hungry?” Jughead asked.

“No that’s ok, I got something while on the road.” Betty said.

“How was work today?” Jughead asked.

“It was good! I finally submitted my final draft for this project I’ve been working on for weeks to my editor. He seemed to like it, which was a relief.” Betty said.

Jughead nodded. Betty and her editor had gotten closer after January. Betty had unexpectedly taken a few days off from work to deal with a family emergency and when she returned, Betty figured honesty was the best policy. Betty’s editor thought her honesty was refreshing and since then he’s taken her under his wing. Jughead thought this was a little weird at first, but he figured Betty could only benefit from a mentor.

Betty was surprised to see that Fred was still up and the two of them caught up. Fred immediately warmed to Betty soon after they met. In fact, both Archie and Fred liked Betty a lot. She easily fit into their family and the three men loved when she cooked for them.

Fred bid them goodnight.

“Where’s Archie?” Betty asked.

“Oh he’s been working with an old friend of ours on his music. She’s been helping him write down his music and record some tracks.” Jughead said.

“Oh right, Veronica did mention that.” Betty said.

To Jughead’s delight, Archie and Veronica had still been going strong. Archie had gone down with Jughead to the city a lot and sometimes went on his own.

“You know why Archie is trying to get his demo’s recorded right?” Betty said.

“No, why?” Jughead asked. He just assumed Archie was trying to get better at his music. But the way Betty phrased it, apparently there was more to it.

“Archie is planning on moving to New York.” Betty said.

Jughead was surprised by this. Archie never mentioned it.

“How do you know that?” Jughead asked.

“Veronica told me.” Betty said.

Jughead’s heart sunk a little. He knew this was going to turn into a fight. How could Archie, his best friend since diapers, not give him a heads up about this?

“Well that’s cool I guess.” Jughead said, not really sure what else to say.

Betty gave a little exaggerated huff. “I’m going to go upstairs and shower.”

Before Jughead could stop her, she grabbed her bag and headed upstairs.

Jughead sat at the kitchen island and put his head in his hands. Of course, Betty felt jealously that Veronica convinced Archie to move to New York to be with her. Jughead didn’t really give Betty a reason why he wasn’t ready to move other than money. But Jughead knew that excuse was about to expire.

The truth was, Jughead was waiting until the summer. Half of his reasons were part of his plan that he couldn’t fill anyone in on besides Fred at the point. The other half was that he was scared. Yes, he and Betty had gone through a lifetime of crap together but at the same time they had only been dating for less than a year. Jughead didn’t think he could put that much trust into their relationship yet. Jughead had too much shit go wrong in his life when he solely depended on someone.

Jughead heard the shower turn off, he heard the bathroom door open and then his bedroom door open and close. Jughead was going to wait five more minutes to give Betty some privacy to get dressed and then get into bed. He needed to talk to her and reassure her somehow.

When Jughead opened his bedroom door, he realized the lights were already off in the bedroom. The light from the hallway shined on Betty showing her back to him. Jughead sighed. He took his jeans off and unbuttoned his plaid shirt and then climbed into bed. At first, Betty went rigid but Jughead ignored this and wrapped his arms around her. He leaned up on his elbow and kissed Betty on the cheek.

“Talk to me.” He whispered.

Betty turned to face him. “Ugh, I don’t know.”

“Betty besides missing me, why do you want me to move in so bad?” Jughead asked.

“Because I want us to be together?” Betty said a little bit of attitude in her voice.

“I want us to be together too but when we’re both ready.” Jughead said.

“What do you mean?” Betty said.

“I’m saying I’m not ready for us to live together yet.” Jughead said.

Betty was silent for a moment searching his eyes.

“Why didn’t you say anything to me before?” Betty said.

“I didn’t really realize it before. We’ve only been dating for a little over six months. I want to be together a little longer before I make a commitment like that.” Jughead said.

Betty nodded, “Ok, that makes sense.”

Jughead kissed Betty and his heart faltered when she didn’t kiss back. He knew she was disappointed but this was something he didn’t want to particularly rush. Betty turned back over, facing away from him. Jughead sighed and rolled over on to his back. He just stared at the ceiling. How was he going to reassure Betty? Suddenly, an idea came to him and he quickly fell asleep.

In the morning, it didn’t surprise Jughead when he woke up alone. Betty usually went running with Archie in the morning. They had a few hours before they had to head over to Betty’s parent’s house. Jughead showered and then went down stairs. Fred had gone to the construction and Archie was working on something out in the garage. Jughead found Betty curled up in a chair by the window, reading a book.

Betty looked up at Jughead as he entered the room.

“Hey…” Jughead said a little shyly.

“Morning.” Betty said.

There was an awkward silence spreading between them.

Jughead put his hand over Betty’s

“Will you go somewhere with me? Before we go over to your parents’ house?”

Betty nodded.

Jughead went and got his coat and then held Betty’s open for her to put on. They barely said anything during the car drive. When they pulled into the Southside trailer park Betty gave Jughead a confused look. Jughead pulled up next to the all too familiar trailer. Without saying a word he got out of the truck and stood in front of his childhood home staring it. Betty walked around the truck and stood next to him.

“Jughead what is this place? Are we visiting someone?” Betty asked.

“No we’re not visiting anyone. This is F.P.’s trailer… this was my home growing up.”

Betty nodded.

Jughead found the key in the same hiding place it had always been in and then unlocked the door to the trailer. He held the door open for Betty as she stepped in. The trailer looked different and yet entirely the same. It was cleaner than it had ever been while Jughead had lived there. Jughead still paid the electric bill so there was a quiet hum from the refrigerator.

“This is where you grew up?” Betty asked.

“Yeah and to be honest it holds a lot of horrible memories.” Jughead said.

“Then why did you bring me here?” Betty said.

Jughead sighed, “Because I’m tired of disappointing you and not having answers.”

“I don’t understand.” Betty said.

Jughead rubbed the back of his neck and pulled off his beanie in frustration. He walked into the kitchen, Betty followed leaning on the wall.

“Betty, my parents hated each other. They got together in high school and before my mom knew it she was pregnant with me and they moved into this trailer. I think my Mom always wanted more from her life and that’s why she eventually left. My parents rushed things and they ended up regretting it.”

Betty frowned at this but nodded her head to show that she was at least trying to understand where he was going with this.

Jughead stood and walked over to Betty. “I love you so much Betty. There isn’t a single thing in the world that would make me feel differently. I want a future with you so much that it scares me. But despite all of that, I don’t want to rush thing you know? We’re young and although I want to spend the rest of my life with you…” Jughead paused. Crap- did he just say that?

Betty lips twitched up into a smile at that statement. Jughead smiled.

“I just want to take our time.” Jughead said.

Betty sighed. Closing the distance between them, Betty leaned up on her tippy toes and kissed him.

“Ok.” Betty whispered.

“Ok?” Jughead asked. Clearly this is not what he was expecting.

“Yeah, ok. It’s not what I want but I also don’t want you to be unhappy. Plus, I’m really happy that you were honest about it. Especially all of this.” Betty motioned to the trailer.

Jughead breathed a sigh of relief. “I promise it won’t be forever.”

“I know that, Jug. Or at least, I hope I know that.” Betty said.

Jughead pulled her into his arms. “Ugh, why is this so freaking hard sometimes.”

Betty squeezed Jughead a little. “We’re just learning to communicate Jughead. It takes time.”

Jughead rested his chin on top of Betty’s head. “I love you, you know that?”

Betty nodded. They stood like this for a few moments.

“Can I see your room?” Betty said.

Jughead laughed, “I guess.”

Jughead led her down the small hallway to his old bedroom. He opened the door and walked inside. Betty looked around. There wasn’t much to it. Some old books, same dark blue and green plaid comforter. Betty sat on the edge of his bed.

“You know…” Jughead said, “I’ve never had a girl in here before.”

Betty laughed.

“Well I guess we’re going to have to do something about that aren’t we?”

“What did you have in mind?” Jughead asked coyly.

Betty stood taking her jacket off and then her shoes.

“Oh I’m sure you have an idea.” Betty said biting her bottom lip.

Jughead laughed and then without warning picked Betty up. She squealed as he brought her over to the bed.

“I think I might have a clue.” Jughead said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there- 
> 
> So this chapter is a little bit of a filler chapter. But these two still have some growing to do like all couples do. Betty has always or at least for the most part been open and honest with Jughead but Jughead still has some things to open up about. His commitment fears was definitely part of it. Anyone else curious about this "plan" he keeps mentioning? :)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it! I plan to update more tomorrow! 
> 
> P & B, 
> 
> -Peyton


	14. Chapter 14

**"The moment I met you it was like some veil in me was lifted. The world became much brighter and far more beautiful, and the days no longer felt so dull and drawn-out. It was as though every moment before you had been just some tiresome dream, and at the sight of you, the morning had dawned at last."** _-Beau Taplin, "The Morning"_

* * *

 

 

Betty

Betty bit the end of her pen. She was supposed to be working on an assignment but she kept getting distracted by thoughts of Jughead. Since their talk a little over 2 months ago things had been amazing between them. Betty stopped pressuring Jughead to make a decision on when they would move in together. They just focused on the present and just enjoyed each other. It was amazing and the sex? The sex was so good.

Betty blushed. Definitely not something she should be thinking about at work.

Last weekend, when Betty was visiting Jughead in Riverdale they had been out on a walk and got caught in the rain. Jughead had looked so annoyed at first that Betty burst into laughter, at first that annoyed him even more but then he smirked at her until he was laughing too. Betty playfully pulled Jughead’s beanie over his eyes and then ran ahead of him. When Jughead caught her, he picked her up from behind and swung her around. Betty remembered her cheeks hurt from laughing so much. When Jughead set her down he pulled her into a kiss. It was such a simple sweet moment between the two of them. Betty felt like she was going to remember it forever.

Love bloomed in Betty’s chest and she deepened the kiss. It didn’t take long for things to get heated between them. Jughead grabbed her hand and practically dragged her up the stairs to the house. Quietly, Jughead opened the door and the two of them snuck up the stairs in hopes that neither Archie nor Fred would know they were home.

They got to Jughead’s room and closed the door behind them, locking it.

Betty giggled, “What about after? They’re going to wonder how we got in the house.”

Jughead was already kissing her neck. “We’ll sneak out the window and go through the front door.”

Betty laughed, “I don’t think that’s going to work.”

“I don’t care.” Jughead said laughing pulling her to him again.

Betty pulled Jughead’s shirt off, which was soaking wet from the rain. Betty ran her finger tips over Jughead’s shoulders down his abdomen. His skin covered in goose flesh. Jughead unzipped Betty’s hoodie and then stripped off her shirt. They continued to kiss until Jughead pulled away, holding her head in his hands. Betty’s breath caught in her throat when Jughead met her gaze. His thumb brushed over her bottom lip and across her jaw bone.

“I love you.” Jughead said quietly.

Betty smiled, “I love you too.”

The two of them stripped off the rest of their wet clothing and Jughead pulled Betty to the bed.

“Betty!” Betty’s editor snapped her out of her memory.

“Geez, Chris I’m sorry!”

“When you return from la-la land I have an assignment for you.”

Betty’s whole body turned an unnatural color of red from embarrassment.

“Yeah, of course. I’m on it.”

“Alright well grab your coat because you’re going into the field.”

Betty was shocked by this, Chris had never asked her to go into the field.

“Where am I going?” Betty asked.

“There’s a protest going on right now down on Wall Street. I want you to go down there and see who will give you a statement. When you get back, I’ll need you to write an article about the protest.”

Betty nodded, she was so excited. She grabbed her coat and placed a recorder and her notepad in her bag. Betty almost made it to the door when her boss called her again.

“Cooper!”

Betty turned around. Chris threw a journalist badge at her that hung on a lanyard.

“Don’t screw this up.” Chris said.

Betty beamed, “I won’t!” and with that she left.

Betty took the subway to the location of the protest. On her way, she Googled the issue being protested trying to get her thoughts together. She jotted down a few things to remember when she was interviewing people on the street. Betty shot a quick text to Jughead.

_You’re getting me in trouble at work now. ;) –B_

A few minutes later, Betty’s phone pinged.

_Oh really? Maybe you should practice more self-control. –J_

_Lol, I’ll remember that next time you try to take my clothes off. –B_

_… self-control is overrated –J_

Betty laughed out loud and then put her phone back in her bag. Betty hopped off the subway and ran up the stairs to the street.

After a few hours, Betty felt like she had all that she needed. Betty interviewed several protestors and then was able to get a few statements from the bankers that were getting off of work. Betty was jotting down some of her thoughts in her notebook, trying to decide what angle she wanted to take on the issue.

Betty felt like her thoughts were on a roll and she didn’t want to ruin their momentum so instead of taking the subway back to the office she hailed a cab.

With the 10 minute cab ride ahead of her, Betty’s thought returned to Jughead. He was coming down this weekend with Archie. Betty was brain storming what they should do over the weekend. They had done plenty of touristy things. Betty wondered if Jughead would be fine with just being lazy and watching movies all weekend. They were usually busy when Betty went up to Riverdale because she spent part of Saturday morning with her parents in therapy. They were making progress but Betty always felt exhausted afterwards. Jughead always drove her to the appointments and waited outside until it was over and then they usually went out to eat. Except on the days when Betty would get in the car and burst into tears or didn’t want to talk.

On those days, Jughead would take her to Sweet Water River, picking up coffee along the way. He would pull her close and they would just sit in silence for a while.

Betty always marveled at how Jughead took care of her. When they first started dating Betty always felt like she had something to prove, like she had to prove that she could take care of herself. But lately, she was fine with Jughead taking care of her.

Betty took her phone out of her bag.

_I can’t wait to see you this weekend! I love you. –B_

Betty looked up just in time to see her cab driver run a red light. She heard a horn blare to her right and when she looked towards the sound, head lights were coming straight for her.

Betty screamed putting her hands up in front of her face. Betty heard the sound of wheels screeching and glass breaking before she lost consciousness. Then she didn’t hear anything at all, there was only darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! 
> 
> I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a long time! I had really bad writer's block for this story after the last chapter. So I figured the best thing I could do was take a break and eventually it would come to me! And it did! 
> 
> Looking forward to your comments! 
> 
> P & B, 
> 
> -Peyton


	15. Chapter 15

**"Home it is not where you are from, it is where you belong. Some of us travel the whole world to find it. Others, find it is a person."** _Beau Taplin, "The Explorers"_

* * *

 

 

Jughead

_I can’t wait to see you this weekend! I love you. –B_

Jughead read Betty’s text message and smiled.

“Hey Jughead! Get back to work!” Fred yelled from about 10 feet away.

Jughead rolled his eyes and smirked at Fred. Fred enjoyed teasing Jughead about Betty because it was all too obvious lately that he was head over heels in love with her.

Jughead continued with what he was working on at the construction site. Jughead was looking forward to going to see Betty this weekend. To say things had been going well between them was an understatement. Ever since Jughead brought Betty to F.P.’s old trailer it was like the invisible wall between them had finally come down. They were so much happier- they played more, touched more and kissed more.

Jughead’s thoughts went back to the weekend following the trailer. Betty had come back to Riverdale, it wasn’t her weekend but her parents had asked her to come home for a therapy session. Jughead was on edge because he wasn’t sure how Betty was going to handle it. Even though Betty had asked him not to, the morning of the session Jughead felt like he was walking on egg shells around Betty.

They were in his bedroom and Betty was getting ready, she was walking back and forth across the room between her suitcase and the mirror. Jughead just sat on the edge of the bed watching her and after a few minutes Betty caught his eyes on her in the mirror.

“Jughead…” Betty said.

Jughead looked down at the floor. “Sorry.”

Betty walked over and sat down next to him. “Talk to me.” She said.

“I’m just worried about you. After everything you’ve told me about your parents I’m worried it’s going to push you to the edge.” Jughead said.

Out of nowhere Betty pushed Jughead down on the bed and straddled him.

Jughead laughed out of surprise, “What are you doing?”

“Distracting you” Betty said biting her lip and raising an eyebrow. Then she leaned down and started kissing his neck. Jughead groaned low in his throat. Betty pushed his shirt up and started kissing his chest and stomach. Jughead shivered as Betty’s light kisses felt a light burning sensation on his skin.

Betty grinded her hips against his, pushing into his now hard cock.

Jughead groaned, “You are trying to kill me.”

Betty laughed, leaning over him and kissing him on the mouth. He stared into her green eyes.

“You are so beautiful.” Jughead said.

Betty gave him her breath taking shy smile. There was a slight pause and then Jughead grabbed Betty and flipped her on the bed so that she was now on the bottom. Jughead pulled her shirt off.

“What are you doing?” Betty said laughing. “You’re going to make me late!”

“I’m sure your parents can wait a few minutes.” He answered, teasing.

Without a second thought, Jughead tugged Betty’s pants off and after he dropped them on the floor he pulled his own shirt off.

Betty looked up at him, “Now who’s trying to kill who?”

Jughead climbed up her body, kissing every inch as he went. Betty’s body twitched at each point of contact. It made Jughead smile that he had this affect over her. Jughead kissed Betty as he slid his hand down her stomach and under the waistband of her underwear. Jughead gasped a little, he was always surprised at how wet Betty was. Jughead ran two fingers over Betty’s clitoris for a few moments and caught her soft moans in his mouth. Then he slid the same two fingers into her and slowly moved them in and out. Betty’s body shook a little.

Betty’s hand went to the button on his jeans. She unbuttoned them and then pushed them down. They were so eager they didn’t even wait to get his pants off. Jughead pushed Betty’s underwear to the side and then entered her slowly. Jughead paused slightly as Betty let out a satisfying sigh. They both knew they had to be quiet, since both Archie and Fred were downstairs. There was just the sound of their muffled breathing and the sound of their hips rocking together. Jughead felt Betty’s body tighten around him and he picked up the pace. Without warning they both hit their orgasm together. Betty pulled a pillow over her face as she tried to control her moans.

They laid together after in their postcoital bliss. Betty’s head was resting on his arm and he stroked her upper back with his free hand. They smiled at each other like complete idiots and Jughead couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of love for the blonde beauty that laid in his arms. Jughead could see them like this even when they were older. Comforting each other with the raw intimacy of skin to skin contact.

“Will you drive me to my appointment?” Betty asked.

Jughead met Betty’s gaze searching her eyes. He felt so happy, she was asking for his help. She was asking for him for his support.

“Of course I will.” Jughead said.

Betty smiled at him, “Thanks for being my everything.”

Jughead smiled as his heart swoon at the word “everything”.

“Anytime.” He said kissing her again.

It took Jughead about another hour to finish up the task he had been working on. It was the last item on his to do list for the day but he wanted to check in with Fred before he called it a day. Jughead walked over to the site trailer. Fred was sitting at his desk working on his computer.

“Hey Jug.”

“What’s up Fred.” Jughead went over to the mini fridge and took out an orange soda. He opened it and took a seat in the chair in front of Fred’s desk.

“I’m surprised you can get anything done with all that time you spend looking at your phone.” Fred said, trying to keep a straight face.

Jughead laughed, “You love to tease me about Betty. Tell me, when is Archie going to get some of this?”

Fred cracked a smile, “Oh he does.”

Veronica and Archie had been going strong for a few months now. Archie had never been able to keep a girlfriend for more than a few weeks but with Veronica things were different. How ironic that two best friends would fall in love with two women who were best friends. It was incredibly lame Jughead thought, but he couldn’t help but feel happy.

“How’s paying for that ring working out for you?” Fred asked.

“Great. I really appreciate all the extra hours you’ve been giving me. I should be able to stay on schedule for July.” Jughead said.

“Have you thought about how you’ll do it?” Fred asked.

Jughead thought about this. After their moment on New Year’s Eve, Jughead decided he wanted to propose to Betty. At the time, he didn’t have any money so he went to Fred and asked for more hours. Plus, with he and Betty fighting about moving in together, he wasn’t sure when he would pop the question. About a month later, he decided he would do it on the day they met last July. Jughead hadn’t said anything to Archie, although the red head was his best friend Jughead knew he wasn’t good at keeping secrets.

“I have an idea. I still need to ask her parents’ permission.” Jughead said.

“Oh yeah, how are those dinners going?” Fred asked.

“They’re good. I’ve been going there every other week or so. I’m happy to help out and plus I already have a relationship with them so hopefully asking them to marry Betty won’t be too bad.” Jughead said chuckling a little.

All of the sudden Archie burst through the door of the trailer.

Jughead jumped at the noise and turned around.

“Jesus Archie what-“

“Jug where have you been?! Why haven’t you been answering your phone?” Archie yelled at him, a little out of breath.

“It died about 30 minutes ago.” All the hairs on Jughead’s body stood to attention, something was terribly wrong.

“Veronica has been trying to reach you! Something’s happened to Betty.” Archie said.

Both Fred and Jughead stood.

“What do you mean something’s happened to Betty?!” Jughead said.

Archie walked across the trailer and put his hand on Jughead’s shoulder. The look on Archie’s face alone made Jughead sick to his stomach.

“Betty was in a car accident… it’s bad Jug.” Archie said.

Jughead went weak in the knees and reached out for the desk as he lost his balance. Both Fred and Archie grabbed him in alarm.

“What? What happened?” Jughead choked out, he could barely breathe.

“Veronica can fill you in, but we need to go Jughead. Now.” Archie said.

“Take my truck, it’s got a full tank of gas.” Fred threw Archie his keys.

The two of them headed for the door and jumped into the truck.

Archie peeled off and raced towards the highway.

A million thoughts raced through his mind. They called Veronica from the car. She was already at the hospital. All Veronica could tell them was that Betty was taking a cab back to the office and her cab driver ran a red light and they were t-boned in the intersection. Veronica said that the taxi cab had flipped after it was hit by a large SUV. Jughead bit his fist and fear gripped his chest like a vice. After arriving at the Emergency room the doctors took Betty into emergency surgery. The hospital wouldn’t tell Veronica anything else since she wasn’t family. Betty’s parents had been notified as well and were on their way down.

The next few hours felt like hell on earth. Betty’s injures must have been awful if she needed emergency surgery. Jughead prayed that she would make it through the surgery, he prayed that Betty would live.

Archie called Veronica when they were five minutes out. Veronica said that Betty’s parents had gotten there about an hour ago and they were all in the waiting room on the 5th floor. Betty was still in surgery. Jughead checked the clock, he guessed Betty had been in surgery for at least 5 hours now. He hoped that no news at this point that was a good thing.

Archie pulled in front of the hospital.

“Go, I’ll go park the truck and meet you up there.” Archie said.

Jughead just nodded and got out of the truck. He ran into the hospital all the way to the elevator. When it took too long to get to the lobby, Jughead threw open the door to the stairwell and ran up the stairs to the 5th floor. Jughead burst through the door onto the 5th floor.  He looked around and saw Veronica pacing the floor at the end of a long hallway. Jughead ran down the hall.

“Veronica!” Jughead shouted.

Veronica looked up at him. She looked a little relieved. When Jughead got into the waiting room he saw Betty’s parents sitting down on one side of the room. Once Alice saw Jughead, she jumped up and went to him. Jughead pulled Alice into a hug.

“Do we know anything yet?” Jughead asked.

Hal joined them, “No, all we know is that she is still in surgery. It should be another hour or so.”

Jughead nodded and Alice released him.

Jughead sat in a chair as he watched Veronica pace the floor of the waiting room. The click of her heels ringing across the silent waiting room. Archie soon joined them and pulled her into a big hug. Veronica face scrunched, she was clearly trying to hold back her tears. Archie brought her over to a chair and put his arm around her.

About 45 minutes later a surgeon came through the glass doors that said, “Authorized access only” in bright red font. Jughead stood first and then the rest of them did.

“Elizabeth Cooper’s family?” The surgeon asked.

“Yes, we’re here family.” Alice said.

The surgeon faced Betty’s parents, “Mrs. & Mr. Cooper your daughter is very lucky. Betty took the direct impact of the accident. The SUV that hit her cab hit her on the passenger side. She had extensive injuries. Shattered collarbone, skull fracture, and a broken wrist. Betty also had extreme internal injuries but we were able to get the bleeding under control.”

Jughead felt bile rise to the back of his throat.

“So what happens now?” Hal asked.

“Betty is being moved to the ICU right now. The next 48 hours are critical. We need to monitor and make sure her pressure doesn’t bottom out from her injuries. If Betty can make it through the next 48 hours then we can expect for a full recovery but we’re not there yet.”

“What happens if her pressure bottom’s out?” Jughead asked.

“Worst case scenario? Betty will most likely go into heart failure and she will either have a heart attack or her organs will start to fail.” The surgeon said.

All the blood drained out of his face. Archie put a supportive arm around Jughead’s shoulders.

“We’re not there yet Jug. Don’t give up hope now.”

“When can we see her?” Veronica asked.

“Only direct family members are allowed into the ICU.” The surgeon said. “Mr. and Mrs. Cooper if you’ll follow me?”

The Coopers turned to follow the surgeon until Alice stopped and said, “Jughead come with us.”

The surgeon went to speak when Alice said, “He’s our son-in-law.”

Jughead went to follow them but then turned around wearily to face Veronica.

“Veronica you should be the one to go. You’re-“

Veronica went to him, “No Jughead, Betty would want you to be in there with her. I will see her soon.”

Jughead pressed his lips together into a line as he fought back tears. Even as her best friend was in the hospital Veronica was still taking care of everyone but herself. Jughead wrapped her into a tight hug. Veronica was surprised at first, they had never hugged before.

“I’m going to go check on Betty and then I’m going to get you in there. Ok?”

Veronica choked back a sob, “Ok. Go take care of our girl.”

Jughead nodded and let Veronica go. Not looking back, he followed the Coopers through a set of double doors into the ICU.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! 
> 
> I'm sorry I left you hanging! I know the end of the last chapter was completely unexpected. I figured I'd make it up to you by letting you all in on Jughead and Fred's plan. Although now with Betty's accident I'm not sure how that will make all of you feel. 
> 
> I will hopefully update again today at some point. Since Betty is still unconscious, the next chapter will still be in Jughead's point of view. 
> 
> P & B,
> 
> -Peyton


	16. Chapter 16

 

**"You were an unexpected surprise. The defining moment. The collision of stars that slammed into me hard and sent my neat little world plummeting into the ocean. I never expected it to be you, you know? But it is you. It's all you. And now there's no looking back."** _-Beau Taplin, "The Defining Moment"_

* * *

 

Jughead

The ICU floor felt eerie. It was dimly lit and there was the hum and beeping of machines in each of the patient’s rooms. A nurse led them to Betty’s room. Betty’s parents rushed in when they saw Betty but Jughead couldn’t bring himself to cross the threshold.

Betty was laying in the hospital bed. She looked so small laying there with all the machines surrounding her. Betty was hooked up to so many tubes and wires and there was one large tube connected to her mouth. A ventilator was connected helping Betty breathe. From where he stood Jughead could see the large bruise on Betty’s skull where he skull fracture was. Her wrist was in a cast.

Jughead sank into a chair outside the room. Tears streamed down his face. He didn’t have to courage to go in there, it would make it all too real. The girl he loved was in there fighting for her life and she looked so broken and fragile. Jughead didn’t understand how this type of darkness followed him everywhere. First his mom left, then his Dad went to prison and now Betty was in the hospital on the brink of death. Jughead leaned forward putting in his hand as he let out a sob. Jughead didn’t think he would survive if Betty died. Betty was his rare comet, his lifeline. Jughead needed her and that used to scare him so much but now he didn’t even care.

“Jughead.” Hal put a hand on his shoulder.

Jughead wiped his face with the backs of his hands.

“I’m sorry.” Jughead said, “I wasn’t ready to go in there.”

Hal’s face was somber and he nodded. “I understand. Alice is sitting in there with her now. I’m going to go find some coffee for the three of us.”

Jughead nodded. When Hal left Jughead took a deep breath and got up. He walked in to Betty’s room. Alice was sitting on one side of the bed holding Betty’s hand. She looked up when Jughead walked in. Alice’s face was tear streaked, she gave him a weak smile.

“Thank you” Jughead said, “For lying to the doctor and saying I was your son-in-law.”

Alice smiled, “Well… I assume you will be one day so I didn’t think it made a difference.”

Jughead nodded.

Alice wiped her face. “I’m going to go freshen up in the restroom, will you sit with her while I’m gone?”

“Of course.” Jughead said.

After Alice left Jughead sat down next to Betty’s bed and took her hand in his.

Jughead’s mind went blank, he didn’t know what to say. Gently he pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it.

“Betty?” Jughead whispered. He felt silly at first, knowing that Betty probably couldn’t hear him.

He swallowed, “Betty, I know you probably can’t hear me but if you can I want you to know how much I love you. You knocking into me on that stupid bridge was the best thing that ever happened to me. Before that day, I felt like I was just existing… perfectly content with just living my life alone. And then fate stepped in. It’s the best kind of love story and all I think about these days is the day we tell it to our children and then the days after that that we get to tell our grandchildren. Betty… I need you-“ Jughead’s voice broke. “I need you to fight to live, I need you to fight to come back to me. I don’t know how to live without you babe.”

Jughead kissed her hand again, tears streaming down his cheeks. Eventually, Hal and Alice returned and the three of them sat in silence as they heard the whoosh of the ventilator. Around 8pm, Jughead went down to the waiting room to get Veronica and Archie. The Coopers went to the cafeteria so that it wouldn’t look like there were too many people in Betty’s room.

Veronica’s hand flew to her mouth when she saw Betty in the hospital bed. Until then, Veronica had held herself together. Tears started slowly down her cheeks. Jughead felt so bad for her. Sure, Betty was the love of his life but Veronica had been through much more together and had an unbreakable bond. They were sisters. Archie was standing in the corner with his hands in his pockets, looking down at the floor. Jughead wondered why Archie wasn’t comforting Veronica in this moment. He had done so in the waiting room.

Veronica was hugging herself and silently weeping. Her shoulders shaking. Jughead walked around the bed and pulled Veronica into his arms. Jughead and Veronica stood like that for a few minutes. Jughead just kept rubbing her arm and rocking her back and forth a little. Jughead couldn’t do anything about Betty’s condition, but comforting her best friend? That was something he could do.

After about an hour, Archie took Veronica home. Jughead promised that he would call if Betty had any change. Jughead also took it upon himself to call Cheryl. It was awkward and uncomfortable, but Jughead knew it was what Betty would have wanted. Cheryl was really upset and promised to visit once Betty was out of the ICU.

Jughead and Betty’s parents took turns sitting with Betty throughout the night. To their relief, she made it through with no problems. Jughead hoped that if they kept emanating love towards her that she would continue to heal. In the morning, Jughead and the Coopers were moved to the waiting room while Betty’s bandages were changed and tests were done. When they went in later, the doctor came in the update them.

“The good news is Betty seems to be doing well. She is responding to the medication and she remained stable throughout the night. We think we’re ahead of the rough part but we still want to monitor her in the ICU for another 24 hours.”

Jughead swallowed, “What’s the bad news?”

The doctor grimaced. “When we ran tests today, we found that there was swelling around Betty’s spine. It seems she may have suffered damage to her spine during the crash.”

All the air left Jughead’s chest and he doubled over, putting his hands on his knees. Hal put a steadying hand on his shoulder.

“Will she walk again?” Alice asked.

“As of right now there is no indication that Betty is paralyzed. We predict that Betty will have weakness in her legs and at the very least need physical therapy.”

“When is she going to wake up?” Alice asked.

“There is still swelling in Betty’s brain from the skull fracture. Once that comes down we imagine she will wake up but ultimately that’s up to her.”

“Thank you doctor.” Hal said.

A spinal injury? Brain swelling? Jughead felt faint. Betty had her entire life ahead of her. She was wicked smart and she loved to run. Betty barely made it through the day without a run and now her legs were too weak? Jughead just prayed that Betty would make a full recovery not matter how long it took. But no matter what he vowed he would be there through it all.

Quickly thinking, he texted Veronica.

Later in the day Jughead walked into Betty’s hospital room. He brought Veronica with him.

“Hal? Alice? Can I talk to you two for a few minutes down the hall?” Jughead asked.

Hal and Alice looked at each other wearily.

“I’ll sit with Betty.” Veronica said. “I’m going to read her her favorite section in the newspaper.”

Jughead led Betty’s parents down to a small waiting room that was empty. The three of them sat down. Jughead took a deep breath.

“Is everything ok Jughead?” Hal asked.

“Yeah great actually. Listen, I originally had this planned out for a better time. But after Betty’s accident I realized there is no better time.”

“Oh my god.” Alice said, raising her hand to her mouth. Jughead smiled at Alice, he could tell she knew what this conversation was about. But Hal still looked a little confused.

“Did Betty ever tell you two how we met?” Jughead asked.

“She told us that you met in the city and that she found out later who your father was.” Hal said.

“That’s the short version.” Jughead said laughing.

The Coopers smiled a little and looked at Jughead expectantly.

“I had gone down to the city and I was walking across a bridge. It was the Bow Bridge of all places and Betty knocked into me on complete accident. When I looked up my universe shifted. Betty was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I was immediately drawn to her. We talked briefly and I thought I’d never see her again but then fate intervened and we ended up in the same place that night. That was it.”

“We know you love our daughter Jughead.” Hal said.

“But it’s more than that. I had such a terrible childhood, my Mom left when I was in high school and my Dad…” Jughead paused. “My Dad is in prison. My friend Archie and his Dad have always taken care of me but I have never found a place that I could call home. Until I met Betty. Betty made me realize that home isn’t a place but a person. Betty is my person. Betty is home.”

Jughead paused, the Coopers were still looking at him.

“What I am asking… I am asking if you would give me your blessing to marry your daughter.” Jughead said.

“Yes!!!” Alice squealed jumping up clapping her hands together. Jughead stood and hugged her.

Hal stood and faced Jughead. Hal’s face looked serious.

“Jughead, are you doing this because of Betty’s accident?” Hal asked.

“Well yes and no. I promise you I had this planned before today. But I was holding out and waiting but now I realize I don’t want to wait.”

“This isn’t going to be easy you know. Betty isn’t just going to wake up and be ok.” Hal said.

“Hal!” Alice said.

“I know that and I am going to be there for her every step of the way. I am always going to love Betty.” Jughead said.

Hal looked like he might cry as he put out his hand. Jughead took it and they shook.

“Welcome to the family son!” Hal said pulling him into a hug.

Jughead felt relief wash over him. The three of them walked back to Betty’s room. As they got closer down the hall, they noticed doctors and nurses running into Betty’s room and the heard the sound of an alarm going off.

_Betty._

Jughead started to run towards the room. He got in and Veronica was crying.

“What’s going on?” Jughead asked.

“I don’t know! I was just reading to her and then she started choking.” Veronica said in a panic.

The doctor from earlier was working on Betty.

“It’s ok this is a good thing.”

“Choking is a good thing?” Hal asked annoyed.

“Yes, it means she’s fighting the intubation. It means Betty wants to breathe on her own.”

“Wait- does this mean?” Jughead asked

“Yes, Mr. Jones, Betty is trying to wake up.” The doctor said smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our girl Betty is waking up and Jughead made one of the last moves in his plan!!! 
> 
> Hopefully these two are on the up and up! We'll see how Betty is feeling in the next chapter :)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! 
> 
> P & B, 
> 
> -Peyton


	17. Chapter 17

**“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close.”** _Pablo Neruda_

* * *

 

Betty

_Everything hurts._

Betty felt like she had been hit by a train. She had been under this fog for what felt like eternity. The last thing she remembered was Veronica’s faint voice reading to her. Betty tried to smile but couldn’t. Betty tried to say something to Veronica but couldn’t. She started to panic and her heart began to race as she realized that there was a tube in her throat.

What is the world was happening.

Betty could hear Veronica start to panic too. Why couldn’t Betty open her eyes? Betty was so tired and she felt the fog creeping up on her again.

_No, no, no!_

Then Betty heard Jughead come into the room. Betty felt relief but then panic again when she could turn her face to his. Betty strained her hearing for Jughead’s voice but there was so much commotion. Betty used every bit of her energy to just open her eyes. Betty felt like she couldn’t breathe, the weight of the tube in her throat choking her. She felt someone’s hand on her bottom jaw and pain at the tube came out of her throat.

_Jughead!_ She tried to say but nothing came out.

Betty’s mouth was so dry and her throat was so sore and there was pain everywhere.

The dark fog overcame her again.

When Betty came too again, she was pleasantly surprised to hear Jughead’s voice. It was faint at first, but she strained to hear. There were other noises in the room. There was a machine to her right that was making a beeping noise, and something on her left that made a dripping noise like a leaky faucet. There was the noise of people and distant conversation.

Jughead’s voice came in to focus again, Betty laughed when she realized that Jughead was reading her Harry Potter. Specifically the Tale of the Three Brothers. Betty felt like she could almost open her eyes but the pain was almost too much. Betty just sat patiently and listened to Jughead, happy to hear his voice and appreciate the fact that he was sitting there reading Betty a book that he probably never picked up before.

Betty vividly remembered Jughead rolling his eyes when she suggested that they could have a Harry Potter marathon one weekend. She remembered him laughing at her when she defended it as the book series of her childhood. And now here he was sitting and reading it to her.

Betty laughed again.

“Betty?” Jughead whispered.

Betty’s heart ached when she heard the strain in his voice.

“Of course, once I’m unconscious you decide to take an interest in Harry Potter.” Betty said quietly. Her mouth was still so dry.

At last, her eyes finally opened. She squinted at the bright light from the ceiling until Jughead’s perfect face blocked the light.

Betty lifted her hand to touch his perfect face. But she was shocked to find that her arm felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. She winced.

“Hey- take it easy.” Jughead said quietly.

Betty nodded, something that also surprised her that took a lot of effort. Her head felt like a bowling ball and her neck was so stiff. Betty looked around and realized that she was at the hospital.

“Jug… what am I doing here?” Betty asked quietly.

Jughead’s face dropped, he looked like he was in pain. “You don’t remember?”

Did Betty remember? She thought about this, searching Jughead’s eyes for some kind of answer.

“No…” Betty said. “Can I have some water? My mouth is so dry.”

Jughead nodded and brought over a cup with a straw. He held it up to Betty’s mouth.

“I’ll go get the doctor and your parents.” Jughead said.

“No!” Betty said, using all her energy to grab his arm.

Jughead looked alarmed, “Betty, Betty take it easy. I’m not going anywhere, I just want to let the nurse know you’re awake. I promise I will be right back.”

Betty strained her memory trying to think of the reasons as to why she was here in this room. What day was it? How long had she been here? Oh god, how many days of work had she missed.

_Work._

Betty had a feeling that the whole reason why she was there was because of work. But she couldn’t quite put her finger on it just yet.

Jughead came back in and she smiled.

“Jug… what day is it?” Betty asked.

Jughead pressed his lips into a thin line. “It’s Monday” He said quietly.

Three days? Betty had been out for three days? That couldn’t be good.

“Who else has been here?” Betty asked.

“Your parents are here, they just went back to their hotel to shower and get some rest actually. Veronica and Archie were here earlier this morning before Veronica went to work and Fred came down on Sunday as well.”

Betty thought about this, she felt fortunate that she had so many people in her life that cared about her.

Betty looked at Jughead, he looked like he lost weight and there were purple bags under his eyes. Betty realized her being in the hospital must have taken a toll on him.

“How long have you been here? You look like you haven’t slept in days.” Betty said.

Jughead smiled softly, “Everyone has tried to get me to go home and get some proper rest but I couldn’t stand the thought of not being here beside you. Plus I figured if I stayed then your parents and Veronica would have an easier time taking care of themselves.”

Betty smiled, “I love you, you know that?”

Jughead nodded, he looked like he might cry. His mouth was twisted a little and his eyes looked like he was in pain. Betty lifted her weak arm and pulled on his t-shirt, pulling him to her. Betty pulled him close and put her nose in his hair.

“I’m so sorry Jug, it’s ok now… I’m here.” Betty whispered.

Betty heard Jughead sniffle and she could feel a wetness on the crook of her neck. They just sat there and Betty weakly rubbed Jughead’s back and comforted him. Finally he pulled away, his cheeks tear stained. Jughead wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

“I thought I lost you. I didn’t know how I was going to go on.” Jughead confessed.

A faint memory came back to Betty. She had been in the darkness, but she could feel Jughead’s hand around hers and she knew he was talking to her but it was so faint… 

_You knocking into me on that stupid bridge was the best thing that ever happened to me. Before that day, I felt like I was just existing… perfectly content with just living my life alone. And then fate stepped in…I need you to fight to live, I need you to fight to come back to me. I don’t know how to live without you babe._

“I still find it strange when you call me babe.” Betty said, not thinking, laughing softly.

Jughead’s eyes grew wide, “You… heard all of that?”

Betty looked at him, realizing what she had just said. “Yeah I guess I did.”

* * *

 

Betty sighed, to say that she was frustrated was the understatement of the year.

Betty had gotten out of the hospital about 2 weeks ago and to her dismay she moved back in with her parents and taken medical leave from work. She knew it was only temporary but after not living with them for over 5 years it was definitely a new adjustment. Jughead had moved in with her parents also because he was the only one that was strong enough to lift Betty out of bed and up the stairs. At first, Betty thought her parents would protest but to her surprise, they didn’t even put up an argument.

Physical therapy had been going well but it was a very slow process. Betty tried not to be discouraged by this, she was lucky she didn’t lose her ability to walk all together.

But it _was_ discouraging. Betty had run 5 miles every other day for the last two years. Now walking from the living room to the kitchen tired her out and it made her back sore. And forget the stairs. Betty knew she should be grateful for Jughead and all of his help but after a while being carried around like a weak child began to annoy her.

This was why Betty was lying in bed, frustrated. She was frustrated because she had to go to the bathroom and she couldn’t go because she had to call for Jughead and wait for him to come get her. She was frustrated because something that used to be such a simple task, exhausted her.

_No._ Betty thought to herself. Enough was enough. Betty braced herself as she gripped the edge of the bed and pulled herself up into the sitting position. It took a few tries and Betty’s face scrunched as it twisted in pain. She was practically out of breath when she managed to sit up. Betty then put her hand on her bed frame and pushed herself to a standing position. To her delight, this was not so hard to do. Carefully, she methodically put one foot in front of the other and walked down the hall. Betty walked very slowly, bracing herself with one hand on the wall. Just before she made it to the bathroom, Betty heard Jughead coming up the stairs.

“Betty!” Jughead said rushing over to her. “What are you doing? Here let me help you.”

Betty felt Jughead’s hands wrap around her waist. She immediately became furious and using her free hand shoved Jughead away from her.

“Stop it!” Betty said, raising her voice.

Jughead froze his face look like she had slapped him. But he didn’t step away from her.

“I got it.” She said and made her way to the bathroom.

After Betty finished going to the bathroom and washed her hands. She sat down on the side of the tub and put her head in her hands. She was so tired. Betty knew she shouldn’t have snapped at Jughead like that and pushed him away. Who was she becoming? It was like she lost a piece of herself after the accident. Betty wondered how long Jughead would stick around with her like this.

Betty silently started to weep.

After a minute, the door of the bathroom opened and Jughead walked in. He knelt on the ground in front of her. Betty looked through her fingers at him, he looked so sad.

“I’m sorry.” Betty whispered.

Jughead put his hands on her legs. “It’s ok Betty. I know it’s been hard.”

This made Betty cry even more. Betty felt so much pain both emotionally and physically. She wanted things to go back to before the accident. Where she and Jughead were just two young people in love with the world at their feet. Now Betty was weaker than ever and Jughead had stuck around to care for her. Jughead gently stroked her legs back and forth trying to comfort her.

“Why are you doing this?” Betty suddenly asked.

Jughead looked confused, “Doing what?”

“Why are you choosing to live in my grief?” Betty asked looking down at the ground.

Jughead smiled and put his hands on Betty’s face.

“I’m not.” He said simply. “I’m choosing to live in your love.”

Betty’s eyes shot up to meet Jughead’s and her heart began to pound as all of her sadness faded away. Gently, Jughead leaned in and kissed her. Desire exploded inside Betty and grabbing Jughead’s shirt, she pulled him to her. At first, Jughead held back but after Betty wove her hands into his hair, he deepened the kiss. They sat there for a few minutes fervently kissing and running their hands everywhere. Betty leaned in a little closer and then winced from straining her back.

Jughead pulled away from her, immediately looking alarmed.

“Betty we should slow down… you need to be careful.”

Betty bit her bottom lip, “Jughead please.”

Jughead tried to hold back his smile, “Please, what?”

“Take me to bed.” Betty whispered.

Jughead looked at her like he was considering her request. Then he stood and carefully lifted Betty and walked her down the hall back to her bedroom. Carefully, he set her down and they started to kiss again but more slowly this time. Jughead helped Betty strip off her clothes and then laid her back on the bed. Jugehad then stripped off his own clothes and then gently made love to her until she came apart at the seams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! 
> 
> I am SO sorry it has taken me such a long time to update. I will try to update again asap. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Only a few chapters left with this fanfic :)
> 
> P & B, 
> 
> -Peyton


	18. Chapter 18

**“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”** _-Lao Tzu_

* * *

 

Jughead

Jughead sat at his usual booth at Pop’s working on his laptop. Pop Tate came over and freshened up his coffee.

“Thanks Pop.” He said.

“You’re welcome Jughead. It’s been awhile since you worked on your laptop in one of my booth’s it’s giving me some serious flashbacks.” Pop said laughing.

Jughead smiled at him, he did spend a lot of time here in high school. Especially when he was homeless. Jughead sighed, he felt like that was a lifetime ago.

Jughead had been working on writing piece that was required for a few of the jobs he was applying for in New York. It was the last step in his plan and he was hoping he would get hired somewhere in the next couple of weeks so that he could officially move down to New York and be with Betty.

Betty was definitely doing better but the time since her accident and when she got out of the hospital and the last few weeks of her working through her recovery had been rough. Jughead had moved in temporarily because he was the only one who was strong enough to lift Betty up the stairs. But eventually, Betty started resenting him for all of the help she needed and lashed out. Jughead had been so hurt at first but then when he heard her softly weeping in the bathroom, he swallowed his pride and went in to comfort her.

Jughead smiled at the memory because it ended up being the best decision. Betty begged him to make love to her and although his brain told him not to because Betty was still recovering from a spinal trauma his hardware below the belt told him otherwise. About a week later Jughead decided that enough was enough and it was time for Betty to move back to New York and it was time for her to go back to work.

At first, Hal and Alice protested. The claimed it was too soon and that Betty was still recovering. Then to top it all off Betty agreed with them. Jughead tried so hard to keep a grasp on his patience. He knew Betty had been in a terrible accident and that she was scared but at the same time if Jughead didn’t push her to face those fears what kind of husband was he going to be?

Later that afternoon Jughead called Veronica. He and Veronica had gotten extremely close since he comforted her when Betty was in the ICU. Jughead explained the situation, and after a brief debate, together they came up with a plan. Jughead decided he would bring it up to Betty later at night.

Betty was sitting at her vanity brushing her hair. Jughead was laying on her bed looking up at the ceiling. He sat up and looked at his beautiful girl through her reflection in the mirror. Betty caught him staring at her and they smiled at each other. Jughead was still shocked by the fact that Betty’s bright green eyes took his breath away and made his heart flutter.

Betty turned around, “What?”

“Betty… I want you to reconsider moving back to New York.” Jughead said wearily. He really didn’t want to fight but at the same time he needed to say this.

Betty’s smile fell, “I know Jug, but I think my parents are right. I’m not ready.”

Jughead got up off the bed and got down on his knees in front of Betty.

He gave her a small smile, “You are ready. I know that you are.”

Betty’s bottom lip started to tremble and her eyes were glassy as the tears started to build up behind her eyes.

“I’m scared.” Betty whispered, a stray tear falling down her cheek.

Jughead wiped the tear with his thumb, “Of course you are. You went through something awful.”

“I don’t think I could ever get in a cab again.” Betty squeezed her eyes shut, more tears spilling out and down her soft pink cheeks.

“It’s New York, right? You can take the subway.” Jughead joked.

“How Jug? I can’t make it up and down the stairs on my own yet.” Betty said bitterly.

“Well I talked to Veronica and she is going to drop you off at work on her way into work and then pick you up on her way home…”

“You talked to Veronica?” Betty asked.

“Don’t get mad. I needed help figuring out a solution and if you did go back to New York Veronica would be the main person helping you out for a while.”

Betty nodded, thinking this over.

“Betty do you remember when we had that big fight because I was treating you with kid gloves and we were sitting on your porch freezing our asses off?”

Betty laughed a little, “Yes, what about it?”

“That night, you asked me to be your light house and to be honest I didn’t really understand it at first. But now I do. You told me that light houses don’t go running all over the boat to save, they just stand there shining, guiding the boats home. That is what I’m doing. I know this is terrifying but I wouldn’t be pushing you to do this if I didn’t think you were ready.”

Betty grabbed Jughead’s face and pulled him in for a kiss.

“I love you, you know that?” Betty said after she kissed him.

“I do.” Jughead said smiling.

Betty’s tears started again and her eyes fell to the floor. Jughead gently grabbed her chin and turned Betty’s face to his.

“Hey… what’s wrong?” Jughead asked softly.

“I’m going to miss you.” Betty said quietly.

Jughead’s face twisted as he frowned trying to swallow the lump in his throat.

“I’m going to miss you too.” Jughead said. “But it won’t be long before we move in together.”

Betty nodded and kissed him again. “Make love to me Jughead Jones.” Betty whispered. Jughead smiled and granted her request.

That was about a month ago and Jughead was right. Although, driving Betty down to the city and then leaving her, sobbing on the sidewalk was easily the hardest thing he had ever done- Betty was doing just fine back in the city. Betty was still going to physical therapy a few times a week and she still had trouble with stairs. But there was an elevator in her apartment building and at her work. Veronica was still taking her to work and picking her up and now since Archie was living in the city as well, he was around to help when needed. Of course, Jughead was there on the weekends. But overall, Betty was getting stronger. They went on short fifteen minute walks and Jughead always pushed her to add an extra minute or two. Soon, Betty would be up to a thirty minute walk.

Last weekend, Jughead and Veronica nailed down his proposal plan. Veronica was helping him out a lot lately, especially with this plan. All that was left was his last payment on Betty’s engagement ring, get hired for a job in New York and then get everyone where they needed to be for the special day.


	19. Chapter 19

**"I saw that you were perfect, and so I loved you. Then I saw that you were not perfect and I loved you even more."** _Angelita Lim_

* * *

 

 

Betty

Betty was sitting at her desk chewing on the end of her pen trying to work out how to end an article she was working on. Betty sighed, everyone at work had been treating her with kid gloves since her accident. Her boss especially, although he wouldn’t say it, Betty thought he blamed himself for accident. Betty got really good articles to work on but it was difficult because she couldn’t manage to go out into the field. One time last week, Betty was so frustrated she had Veronica help her go out to do field work for an assignment.

Betty smiled at the memory. It had actually been really fun. Archie even joined them at one point and the three of them got statements and took pictures.

Betty’s phone started to ring on her desk. She saw that it was Jughead and she smiled.

“Hey there you.” Betty said.

“Hey Betty! How are you?” Jughead asked.

“I’m good! Looking forward to seeing you this weekend.” Betty said.

“Actually that’s what I’m calling about, I have some bad news.”

Betty’s heart sank, “Oh?”

“Yeah, listen, I’m not going to be able to make it down this weekend.”

“Why?” Betty asked, trying not to sound too disappointed.

“Uh, Fred needs me to pick up a few shifts this weekend. Some of the workers got sick from food poisoning.” Jughead said.

Betty sighed. “Ok I understand.”

“I’ll make it up to you I promise!”

“I’m sure you will.” Betty said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Later that night, Betty was sitting on the couch in her apartment writing in her journal.

“So I heard Jug isn’t coming down this weekend.” Veronica called from the kitchen.

Betty rolled her eyes. Betty thought it was really special that Veronica and Jughead had gotten so close but sometimes Betty wondered who was dating who. The thought made her chuckle a little.

“Yeah, I’m disappointed but what can you do?”

“We should have a girl’s day on Saturday!” Veronica said.

Betty thought about this, it had been awhile since she and Veronica had spent quality time together. They always used to have girl time on the weekends before Betty met Jughead.

“Yeah, that sounds good V!”

Veronica walked in the room from the kitchen.

“Great because I have the whole day planned already.”

Betty laughed out loud. “What did you have in mind?”

“Breakfast in the morning, then mani-pedi’s, and then shopping! Ooo and a walk in central park!”

Betty smiled at her best friend’s enthusiasm.

* * *

 

Betty woke up to the light tapping on her door from Veronica.

“Come on sleepy head!!! You better get moving if we’re going to fit everything I have planned today!”

Betty groaned, “Five more minutes!!”

Veronica pulled the covers off of Betty. “Up and adam!”

“Ok! Ok!”

Betty checked her cell phone. There were no messages from Jughead. She hadn’t heard from him since yesterday evening. Her heart ached a little. Waking up on a Saturday morning not wrapped up in Jughead’s arms made her sad. Betty sighed and typed out a quick message to Jughead.

_Missing you xoxo_

Betty got up and went to the bathroom to wash her face. She was still tired, getting her strength back after her accident had been an exhausting process. Betty went to physical therapy twice a week and swimming once a week. Although she couldn’t go running and stairs were still an issue, Betty could walk about a mile before getting physically exhausted.

The girls went to breakfast. Betty sipped her coffee and laughed at a ridiculous story Veronica was telling about something that happened at work. She was planning an event for people who loved Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory. The two of them watched the movie three times the week before and they picked out strange orange, green and purple colors for the theme.

It felt good to laugh with no pain in her abdomen. Who knew something as simple as laughing could be taken for granted. Or getting out of bed in the morning for that matter. Jughead had to help Betty sit up in bed every morning two weeks following her discharge from the hospital. Now she felt a small strain but nothing as painful as before.

Normally the girls would have walked everywhere or taken the subway, but Veronica insisted that she wanted Betty to save her strength for their walk in Central Park later.

They stopped and got their mani-pedi’s. Originally Betty had picked out a lavender color for her nails but then Veronica insisted she get a French manicure because it would go with anything. Betty rolled her eyes, but eventually she decided to get the lavender color on her toes and a French manicure on her hands.

While their nails were drying, Betty turned and looked at Veronica.

“So how are things with you and Archie?” Betty asked.

Veronica smiled, “They’re really good. He’s not 100% happy at his new job but he’s happy to get the opportunity to work on his music.”

Betty nodded, “You said he booked his first gig right?”

“Yeah! It’s actually next weekend if you and Jughead are free.”

“I have my therapy session with my parents but I could just tell them I can’t go.”

“How’s that been going?” Veronica asked.

“Good for the most part. It was definitely hard at first because we had to talk about so much of the painful stuff. I swear Jughead almost thought about not letting me go at one point because I was always so emotionally drained. But after a while it got better.”

“I’m glad to hear it. I know you’re relationship with them will never be perfect but at least you can try to heal now and move on.”

“Yeah, I agree.”

“Alright, my nails are dry. You ready to go shopping?”

“I really don’t have much money Ron.” Betty said, a little embarrassed.

“That’s ok! It’s on the Lodges today. My mom says it’s her get well soon present to you or something like that.”

“You’re lying.”

Veronica put her hand over her heart and scoffed. “Betty! I’m offended you would accuse me of such a thing!”

Veronica picked out a beautiful off white sun dress for Betty, with cute wedges to go with them. While Betty picked out a dark blue dress for Veronica. The two girls felt so good in their dresses that they decided to keep them on for the remainder of the day.

“We’ll so hot walking through Central Park!” Veronica said.

Betty’s face fell a little, walking. How was she going to manage a walk in Central Park in heels?

“Ron, I don’t know if I can wear these.”

Veronica frowned a little, “Of course you can Betty.”

Betty frowned a little and looked at herself in the mirror one more time. She had only pinned up half of her hair that morning and she put on a simple amount of make-up, mascara and pink lip gloss. Betty sighed, she did feel beautiful in her outfit. Veronica came and stood next to her putting her arm around Betty’s shoulders.

“C’mon, I’ll even carry your other shoes in my purse. We’ll work the wedges for a little while and then you can change.” Veronica said with a smile.

Betty smile and nodded her head.

“Alright, are you ready?” Veronica asked.

“Yeah! But let’s take a picture for Instagram first! I want people to see I’m alive and fabulous.”

Veronica laughed, “Ok, if you say so.”

The two girls posed in the mirror as Betty took a photograph. In the car on the way to Central Park, Betty posted the picture on her Instagram. Betty noticed after that Veronica was busy texting away on her iPhone.

“Geez, V. You sure are popular.”

“What?” Veronica asked looking a little flustered.

Betty raised one eyebrow at her.

“They’re just work texts B. Those Wonka people are crazy.”

Betty laughed. “Yeah they are. We need to make those candy order this week and find someone crazy enough to make center pieces.”

“Yeah girl, you’re right.”

* * *

The car pulled up to Central Park and Betty idling remembered it from the day she met Jughead. At least, this is where she thought they had started that fateful day. Betty took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves about a walk in the park. Something that used to be so easy but now exhausted her. Betty calmed herself with the image of Jughead bringing their kids here one day and showing them the spot where they met.

“Oh by the way, I invited a friend to walk with us.” Veronica said.

Betty stepped out of the car, “Who?”

Betty was shocked to see a beautiful young woman with fire red hair standing on the sidewalk waiting for her.

“Chery?!” Betty squealed.

“Hi Betty.” Cheryl said. Her bright red lips smiling.

Betty turned around expecting to see Veronica, but instead the town car was driving away.

“Wait, what? Veronica!” Betty called after the town car.

“Don’t worry, she’ll join you later. You ready?” Cheryl said offering her arm.

“Yeah.” Betty said laughing.

_How strange._ Betty thought to herself. But she was so happy to see Cheryl that she didn’t pay much attention to it.

The two girls walked together arm and arm through Central Park.

“So how are you feeling lately?” Cheryl asked.

“I’m doing better. Recovery has been really slow and I’d kill to go on a run but everything in moderation I guess. I’m actually surprised that I’m walking around in these heels to be honest.”

“And you look fabulous in them by the way! Veronica has such excellent taste.”

“You should come shopping with us sometime!” Betty said.

The two of them continued along talking about their jobs and from time to time they would mention their siblings.

“Betty, I want you to know that loosing JJ was probably the most painful thing I have ever been through. Then with my Dad’s suicide and Polly and the twin’s death… I really never thought I would recover.”

Betty nodded, tears pricking the backs of her eyes. “I know the feeling.”

“I knew Polly had a sister but I honestly had no idea what you looked like. Until that day I saw you in the parking lot at Pop’s. You know that day, I thought about ending things…” Cheryl struggled with her words.

Betty paused, gripping Cheryl’s arm tightly. “Cheryl…”

“But then fate stepped in. I saw you in the parking lot at Pop’s and then Archie set up that meeting between us. It was like… I felt like Jason sent you to me as a sign that not all hope was lost when I lost him.” Cheryl started to cry.

Tears rolled down Betty’s cheeks.

Cheryl stopped and pulled a few tissues out of her purse, she handed one to Betty.

“I wanted you to know what your friendship means to me Betty. It’s like I get a piece of having a sibling back, someone who can help me keep the memory of my brother alive.”

Betty nodded, “Me too Cheryl.”

The girls smiled at each other. “Ok! Enough crying.” Cheryl said with a choked laugh.

Cheryl took Betty’s tissue and blotted her eyes. Betty laughed looking up so that Cheryl could wipe her smudged mascara.

“I am definitely buying you so waterproof mascara, asap.” Cheryl said.

Betty saw something familiar out of the corner of her eye, or rather someone.

“Fred?!” Betty said in disbelief.

“Hey there, Betty.” Fred said.

Fred dressed in his iconic flannel and jeans walked towards Betty taking her hand.

Betty turned to Cheryl. “He’s your next walking partner.” Cheryl said.

Cheryl pulled Betty in for a hug. “I’ll see you later.”

“Later?” Betty said quizzically.

“Come on little lady. You owe me a tour.”

The two of them walked along and Betty pointed out different sculptures and buildings on the outside of the park.

“So is this the reason why Jughead didn’t come down this weekend? I’m assuming you’re here to see Archie.”

“Something like that.” Fred said laughing a little.

Betty nodded, “I know you weren’t too keen on his big move to the city.”

“Nah, I want what’s best for him. Music has always been his passion, but it was hard to let go of the father son dream.” Fred said.

“Well at least you have Jughead for a little while.”

“Yeah, that kid is definitely a hard worker. It’s been wonderful spending one on one time with him during the week. He hasn’t had much of that in his life.”

Betty’s heart twisted a little. “Yeah it’s good that he has you.”

Fred laughed, “You know I used to believe that until he met you.”

Betty laughed, “What?”

“You know, I wasn’t so sure about you when Archie first told me about what happened in the city. I couldn’t wrap my mind around how Jughead, who never showed any interest in girls was completely devastated by someone he just met.”

“I know what you mean.” Betty said reflectively.

“But then after the two of you work things out and he brought you home that first weekend. After spending a little time with you I understood.”

“How?” Betty asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Well you’re obviously beautiful.” Fred quipped.

Betty laughed out loud and nudged Fred a little.

“But you had such a bright personality but it was still obvious to me that you had been through something. Something dark, that no one at your age should ever go through. But to me, that was a good thing because Jughead had gone through something dark too.”

Betty nodded, she knew this all too well. It was strong force that brought her and Jughead together.

“Your young love is so special Betty. When two people like you and Jughead have been through something incredibly dark, you can appreciate the light and better yet, you pull each other into it.”

Betty nodded, feeling a lump form in her throat.

“Take care of him Betty. Remember that he is stubborn and although he has that rough exterior, he bruises very easily. And no matter what, he will probably be wearing that damn beanie of his in the nursing home.”

Betty laughed, “Ok Fred, I’ll remember.”

Fred paused and Betty looked up. She had been watching her feet making sure she didn’t trip. Betty’s mouth fell open when she was face to face with Archie.

“Hey Betty.” Archie said.

“Archie?” Ok, now this was getting weird.

Archie walked over, “You look tired, need a lift?”

“What? Well sort of but that’s really not-“ Archie lifted Betty into his arms.

“Necessary.” Betty finished.

“Of course it is,” Archie said. “We need to keep walking and you look like you’re going to pass out.”

Archie turned and looked at Fred, “See you later Dad.”

Fred nodded and waved goodbye at the pair.

“Archie what in the world is going on?”

“Now Betty, you know I can’t tell you that.”

“Not even a hint?” Betty asked.

“Nope. Plus my part is going to be short. Ronnie is waiting for you a little ways down. I just figured you needed a break.”

Betty nodded. People watched Archie and Betty walking by, assuming they were some love struck couple.

“You know when Jughead and I went to college, sometime during junior year I actually started to worry that Jughead was going to end up alone.”

“What?” Betty asked, shocked.

“It’s stupid I know. But every time a girl showed interest in him he would always find a reason to break things off. Jughead always carried around so much shame about what happened with his Dad.”

“Until he met me.” Betty said.

“Yeah. I mean I thought he was crazy. All bent out of shape because of some girl he just met. But because you already knew F.P. his reasons weren’t reasons anymore. And I see how you two are together, always taking care of each other.” Archie said.

Betty sighed, “I feel like he’s done most of the caring these days.”

“Don’t think that way Betty. We all take care of the ones we love.”

Betty nodded.

“Alright, Ron should be just around this corner.”

Betty thought in the back of her mind about how they were almost at the Bow Bridge. For no reason Betty could put her finger on, her heartbeat began to quicken.

“Betty! How was your walk?”

Archie gently set Betty down.

“It’s been strange to say the least. Aren’t we almost to the Bow Bridge?”

“We are! Originally both Fred and Archie were supposed to meet you but Archie figured you would start to be getting tired at this point. So he figured he’d carry you a ways to give your legs a rest.”

Archie hugged Betty and then gave Ronnie a kiss on the cheek.

Veronica grabbed Betty’s hand. “This way my dear.”

“Betty, odd question- but why did you decide to be my friend?” Veronica asked.

“What?” Betty said.

“Why are we friends? Most people see me as a snobbish rich bitch. But you, you never seemed to think that.”

“Honestly? I was just excited that someone like you took an interest in me. But after a while, I saw what a good person you were. Especially after you found out about my mental break downs and cutting myself.”

Veronica nodded, “Yeah, my heart broke the night you told me that. But we got through it.”

“Ron, what are we doing on this walk? What is this really about?”

“Let’s just say, I’m helping out a friend.”

“A friend? What friend?”

“You’ll see. But first, your parents are waiting for you.”

“What?” Betty asked. “My parents?”

Betty saw her parents standing by a park bench, waiting for her. The Bow Bridge was in the distance. Betty gasped, she knew what this was about.

“Mom? Dad?”

“Hi sweetheart.” Hal Cooper said.

Betty carefully walked over to her parents and took both their hands.

They started making their way towards the Bow Bridge.

“You know Betty, we really appreciate you taking the time to come to therapy with us. We’ve come to realize how hard we were on you, especially after Polly died. We’re so sorry honey, and we are so happy that you’ve given us a second chance.”

“Of course.” Betty said. Betty couldn't really concentrate on her parent's words as her mind was racing at the speed of light.

“We really love Jughead too. He’s already like a son to us. You know he still comes for dinner once a week?” Alice said.

“No.” Betty said, “He didn’t mention it.”

“Yup and boy can he eat!” Hal said laughing.

“Betty we want you to know how proud we are of you and we are excited to see where your life takes you. We love you very much, Betty.”

Tear started to fall down Betty’s cheeks, they were almost at the Bow Bridge.

“Ok honey, you need to finish the rest of this walk on your own.” Hal said.

“What?” Betty said, “I can’t make it.”

Alice stepped forward and wiped the tears off Betty’s cheeks. She pulled mascara out of her purse and applied some to Betty’s eyes and then applied some fresh lip gloss to her lips.

“Thanks Mom.” Betty said.

“You can do this Elizabeth. I know I was hard on you but I raised a strong woman. Mind over matter.”

Betty nodded, taking a deep breath.

Focusing on one step in front of the other, Betty walked forward towards the beginning of the Bow Bridge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone!!! 
> 
> I am so sorry it has taken me FOREVER to update. Life is crazy right now to say the very least. But I'm going to make it up to you by posting the last 3 chapters for this fanfic tonight!!!! 
> 
> Enjoy!! 
> 
> P & B, 
> 
> Peyton


	20. Chapter 20

**"If I know what love is, it is because of you." -** _Hermann Hesse_

* * *

 

 

Jughead

Jughead had been freaking out all morning. He barely slept the night before and then he had been running around all morning with Fred and Archie tying up loose ends and making sure everyone knew where they needed to be.

Jughead wanted Betty to walk the same path the day she did when they met the first time. But Jughead also knew it would be long and tiring walk for her since Betty was recovering still from her accident. So Jughead made sure she would have company along the way. People Betty loved and who loved Betty as she made her journey to him on their bridge.

The photographer got into place when Jughead got the text from Veronica that Betty was on her way to the bridge. Jughead’s nerves were through the roof. He was terrified. Even though he had known for a long time that he wanted to marry Betty, the whole act of getting down on one knee and asking her, was unnerving.

Plus, anyone who knew Jughead knew that romantic gestures was not his thing. Then again either was fate but meeting Betty was an act of the stars and therefore, he only found it right to propose to her where he saw her the very first time.

Jughead took a deep breath and put his phone in his pocket. He looked over his shoulder where a photographer was trying to blend in nonchalantly.

Jughead saw Betty slowly making the walk up the bridge, he immediately saw how tired she was and how every step caused her a bit of discomfort. Jughead stepped forward to go to her, to help her walk the rest of the way but Betty put her hand up to stop.

Oh Betty, his brave, stubborn, incredibly beautiful girl.

Finally, she got to him and she put both hands on his arms. He held her up slightly.

“Hi.” Jughead said.

“Hi there.” Betty said.

Jughead couldn’t help but notice she was shaking.

“I thought you’d enjoy meeting in our spot.” Jughead said.

Betty nodded, her eyes full with tears.

Jughead leaned down and kissed her.

“You look beautiful.” Jughead said.

“Thank you, Ronnie picked this out.” Betty said laughing a little.

“Betty, I tell you all the time that you shoulder checking me on this bridge was the best thing that ever happened to me. But I truly, truly mean it. Before I met you, I was purely just existing and I was perfectly content with living my life alone. It never bothered me before, until I met you.”

Betty’s bottom lip trembled as she looked up into Jughead’s eyes, gripping his arms tightly.

“You are my everything. You make me laugh, you challenge me, and you make me see things I never even thought about before. You love me just as I am and never ask for anything in return. I can’t believe how lucky I got. You take my breath away and push me to be a better version of myself.”

Tears started to spill down Betty’s cheeks.

Jughead took a deep breath and dropped to one knee.

“Oh my god.” Betty said, her hand flying to her mouth.

“Betty Cooper, will you marry me?”

Ocean blue eyes crashed into radiant green, their entire worlds colliding together.

“YES!” Betty yelled, crying and laughing at the same time.

Jughead let go the breath he had no idea he was holding.

Jughead jumped up and pulled Betty into his arms and spun her around. Betty laughed as he held her close.

“I love you, I love you, I love you.” Jughead said it over and over.

People on the bridge cheered and clapped for the young couple.

Jughead pulled the ring out of his pocket and put it on Betty’s finger. It was a single plain silver band with a 1 carat diamond in the center in a halo setting.

Betty gasped, “Wow Jughead this is beautiful.”

Jughead pulled her in for a kiss.

The photographer came over and took some pictures of them on the bridge and then out of the corner of his eye, Jughead saw all their friends and family coming over on the opposite side of the bridge.

Jughead thought back on his life in that single moment and realized that all the dark days were behind him now. Sure, there would be dark things in the future, but it would be ok because Betty would be there. Betty would be there in the darkness holding out her hand beckoning him into the light. 


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! <3 <3 <3

**"The best love is the kind that awakens the soul; that makes us reach for more, that plants the fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. That’s what I hope to give you forever."** _-Noah to Allie, The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks_

* * *

Betty

Betty sighed contently as she took a seat. It was getting towards the end of the night and most of the guests had gone home but both Betty's and Jughead's families remained. It had been just over a year since Jughead proposed to Betty on the Bow Bridge. Betty had wanted a fall wedding so that there leaves would be beautiful colors of reds, oranges and yellows in their wedding photos. Luckily, the Lodge’s were able to get a beautiful private section of the park for Betty and Jughead to hold their small ceremony.

Their wedding had been small and simple only close family and friends were invited. Veronica had been Betty’s maid of honor and Cheryl was a bridesmaid. Jughead had only asked Archie to be his best man. To make it even more special, Fred had gotten ordained and he was the one who married them. Betty cried through her entire vows which Betty and Jughead decided to write themselves. Admitting their love in front of a small congressional of those closest to them. Afterwards, they had a small reception at the Lodge’s house. Mrs. Lodge almost insisted that they have their reception at their house. At first, Alice had protested saying they were doing too much but then Hermonie took Alice on a planning mission and they were thick as thieves by the end of the day.

Betty reflected on what her life was like just a short two years ago. She had just gotten out of college and if she was being honest, her life was a freaking mess. Betty didn’t even believe in love then but as she looked around she realized love surrounded her in endless amounts.

Her relationship with her parents was better than ever and they had continued to heal together. Then Betty looked at Cheryl who was laughing on the dance floor with Jughead and Archie. Her heart twisted a little. When Polly died, Betty thought she lost having a sister forever. But Cheryl was her sister and more importantly, Betty’s relationship with Cheryl had kept Polly’s memory alive. Veronica was happier than ever with Archie, who, was planning his own proposal for any day now. Betty also gained a brother and father-in-law with Fred and Archie.

Finally, there was her man. Jughead Jones. Her better half, her one and only constant. Over the last year, Jughead moved heaven and earth for Betty. Continuing to help her with her physical therapy. Betty was almost back to normal strength, however, a bad fall over the winter had been a major setback for her. Despite how devastating and scary that was, Jughead never wavered and never let Betty believe that she couldn’t get back on track. Jughead was the sole reason she survived, he was her lifeline, her talisman, her… lighthouse.

Betty’s heart fluttered as it filled with an overwhelming feeling of love and gratitude for her husband. Subconsciously, Betty put her hand on her stomach. Jughead caught her staring at him and the smile that broke on his face was absolutely breath taking. He walked over to her.

“Hey you, you doing ok?” Jughead asked.

“Yeah, just a little tired. It’s been a long day.” Betty laughed.

Jughead nodded and placed his hand over Betty’s which was still on her stomach.

“Do you think it’s time to tell them?” Jughead asked, his boyish grin making Betty’s heart skip a beat.

Betty bit her bottom lip, she was so nervous but also excited.

“Yeah, I think we should.” Betty said breathlessly.

Jughead leaned in and kissed her deeply. When he pulled away he rested his forehead on his on hers.

“I love you.” Jughead said.

“I love you too.” Betty said.

They smiled at each other as Jughead took her hand in his and they stood.

Jughead cleared his throat, “Hey everyone- Betty and I have some news to share.”

 

-The End-

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! 
> 
> As some of you may know, Part 1 to this story "Love Me Like You Do" was my first fanfic so this story is very special to me and I want to say thank you to you all who have taken this Bughead journey with me. Seriously, thank you to those of you who left kudos (and those in the future who leave kudos) and ESPECIALLY to those of you who left comments. Every single comment meant the WORLD to me and encouraged me to keep writing :) 
> 
> I left this fanfic with a bit of a cliff hanger, which you all know I love to do! No promises on whether or not I will continue this story. I am trying to work on some new material when I have time. 
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> Peace & Blessings, 
> 
> -Peyton


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